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COPYRIGHTED BY 

LYDIA M. WEIGHT, 

Nrw Orleans, La. 

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SUNSHINE IS LIKE MEDICINE 
FOR CHICKENS. 



SUNSHINE IS MEDICINE TO ALL LIFE, WHETHER 
IT IS VEGETABLE OR ANIMAL. We ALL XOTICE 
HENS AXD STOCK BASKING IN THE SUN ON THE 
WASM SIDES OF BUILDINGS. It SEEMS TO FEEL 
GOOD TO THEM TO HAVE THE SUN "SOAK" IN. 
I HAVE, ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, SEEN" LITTLE 
CHICKS LEAVE A HEN OR COMFORTABLE BROOD- 
ERS TO BASK IN THE SUN. 



THE PREFACE. 



BKJ profit and bi^ losses are nossible in the poultry 
business, and depend wholly upon the judgment of 
the breeder. 

Contrary to the long-surviving sentiment, chickens do 
not take care of themselves and thrive. They are helpless in 
many ways and the breeder who would be successful must 
exercise constant vigilance and care. 

This volume is classified, divided and subdivided into 
departments in order to make it easy for the breeder to find 
instantly the particular paragraph covering his case and con- 
taining the information he needs. 

Every sentence, every remedy, every hint in this book is 
based on hard experience and successf ul application in 
Wright's Sanitary Poultry Yards at New Orleans, La., and 
may be safely followed. 

A word on yards in closing. The successful breeder does 
not need many acres. What is needed most is care and sani- 
tation. The Wright Sanitary Poultry Yards at New Orleans 
are located in the back-end of an ordinary-sized city lot, and, 
through the courtesy of the most famous chicken fanciers of 
America who have visited them, have been styled "The Show 
Place of Poultrydom." 

Tn any event, this back-yard poultry "farm" has been a 
success, and has demonstrated beyond peradventure of a doubt 
that chickens can he profitably produced on the back lot. 

Il is with a view particularly to helping those who have 
established, or desire to establish, such a' yard in a restricted 
area that this volume is issued. 
Sincerely, 

LYDIA M. WEIGHT. 
\i:\\ Orleans. June. 191 1. 



FOREWORD. 



THIS volume is intended not for the breeder who is 
himself an expert of long experience in the poultry 
business., but for the breeder in need of the advice of 
those who have learned in the hard school of experience the 
way to success and the pitfalls which beset the path of the 
novice in the chicken business. 

It is. intended that this work shall be so plain that he 
who runs may read and comprehend, and gain profit thereby. 

Long has the idea prevailed that a "farm" of broad acres 
is necessary to the success of the chicken business, and that 
the fowls, left to roam the wilderness of weeds, will either 
thrive or die, and no effort on the part of the breeder may 
change this. 

Modern success and experience give the lie to this idea, 
however, and to-day the big profits are made, not on the big 
farms, but in restricted yards, where the fowls are under 
the direct care and guardianship of the breeder at all times. 

As '"Jud" says in Opie's Read's "The Jucklins": Chick- 
ens is queer critters, and common sense, sunshine and sani- 
tation are the requisite to success." 

If this work proves of help and benefit to those who love 
chickens and are breeding them ; if it helps to success the 
novice just beginning in the business, and if its plain, homely 
facts make simpler and easier the way of the back-lot breeder, 
then I am tenfold repaid for the time and labor spent in 
compiling this volume. 

THE AUTHOR. 
New Orleans, June, 1911. 



THE SONG OF SUCCESS. 

If you're going into business and expect to keep ahead, 

You've got to get up early in the morning. 
If you start to keeping chickens to earn your daily bread, 

You've got to get up early in the morning. 

If you've made a sad, sad failure at every other game, 

And hate to get up early in the morning, 
Stay out of the poultry business, and then in heaven's name, 

Why don't you try to get up early in the morning! 

But you'll miss the bright pure sunshine, and the clucking of 
the hen 

As she greets your call so early in the 'morning, 
And you'll miss the golden dollars that come to other men 

Who like to get up early in the morning. 

Don't think the chicken business is a sinecure at all, 
Where you don't need to get up early in the morning. 

For if you do you're surely bound to end against the wall, 
Unless you get up early in the morning. 

There's work and plenty of it if you treat your chicken's right, 

And you have to get up early in the morning. 
If you want to pile up money and sleep well through the night. 

You've got to get up early in the morning. 



SUMMER. 

If your chicks look weak and sleepy, 
And they do not care to eat, 

Look for lice, and if not any, 
Do not worry — its the heat. 

If the old hens look tired 

And sit only in one spot, 
You should never get discouraged — 

Its the weather, its so hot. 

If the hens should stop laying 
In back yards and on farms, 

Its because they are molding, 
And remember its so warm. 

Try and make it cool and pleasant 
For your hens this time a year, 

In the winter they will pay you 
For your trouble — never fear. 

Eggs a plenty they will give you, 
And their cackling song will sing, 

Lots of money in your pocket 
The industrious hen will bring. 



THE RED CHICKEN. 

Them old Red chickens 

Are a m'ghty funny flock, 

Said (he old Brahma hen 
To the old Pea Cock. 

The old Brahma hen, 

With the feathers between her toes, 
Almost kills herself laughing, 

When the Eed rooster crows. 

Them old Eed chickens 

Live a mighty funny life, 
Said the old Brahma rooster. 

To the Pea Cock's' wife. 

The old Eed rooster 

Thinks he is the only chicken, 
He is either in a fight, 

Or he is always a-kicking. 



LITTLE RED HEN. 

The red hen is a beauty 

In color, shape and size, 
And talk about your laying eggs — 

She is a grand surprise. 

The red hen is a beauty: 

She is the chicken queen, 
And if it 's fertile eggs you want, 

Her's are the best you ever seen. 

The red hen will make you money, 
She lays the whole year round; 

As a paying proposition, 

She is the best that can be found. 

The red hen she is docile, 
And will thrive anywhere; 

Put, her in any old yard. 

She will be contented there. 

The red hen is strong and healthy- 
She is very seldom sick, 

And under all conditions, 
She is a regular brick. 

The rooster, strong and gallant, 

Is proud as he can be. 
The way he acts towards h : s hens 

Is something good to see. 

He is the chicken "Ked Man" — 
Strong, vigorous and well; 

You can almost hear him crowing 
As he comes from the shell. 



SYMPTOMS. 

If your chicks breathe with difficulty, 
Hold their heads down and droop, 

Offensive discharge from nostrils, 
Be careful — it's the Roup. 

When the chicks have soreness of throat, 

Don't stand around and tamper. 
If they swallow with difficulty, 
Eemember, it is Canker. 

Crop hard, swollen and comDact 

And cannot eat with ease: 
Your chickens have indigestion, 
Which causes crop disease. 

Thread-like worms attached to wmdpipe 
The life of your chicken saps, 

Aiid prevents the chicks from breathing; 
This disease is called the Gaps. 

If dry scale forms upon the tongue, 
From your memory don't let this slip, 

Due to breathing through the mouth: 
Your chicken has the Pip. 



POULTRY INTEREST IN THE SOUTH. 

There has been an astonishing awakening throughout the South 
in regard to poultry raising and culture. The interest s-hown by 
the people at the recent Southern shows' eloquently testifies that 
the awakening is day by day growing broad and more pronounced. 
People who never before have taken an interest in the raising 
of poultry are now indulging in this pleasant and profitable pas- 
time. With the advantages afforded us by our pleasant climate 
poultry raising is comparatively easy. 

GREAT ADVANTAGES. 

In the poultry culture we have great advantages over our North- 
ern brother. The difference in climatic conditions existing in the 
Northern States' and Southern States are all in favor of the South. 
Our winters are mild and enjoyable, and every day is an outing 
for Biddy, all this making for her general health. These conditions, 
together with the remarkable high prices ruling the market at all 
times, should encourage everyone who has the space, large or small, 
to raise a few good fowls. One of the many reasons that the 
poultry business has been looked on with so much favor in America 
is because the people of the United States use more meat than the 
people of any other nat : on. England ranks second and other coun- 
tries rank far below. 

GOOD DEMAND. 

The demand for good healthy poultry and fresh eggs is greater 
to-day than it has ever been before, and the consumers are willing 
to pay a high price rather than use a product that has been kept 
in cold Storage until it is no longer fresh. It is unquestionably 
convenient to have a supply of fresh eggs on hand all the time, and 
if you have never taken notice of the different flavors between a 
fowl that has 1 been raised under sanitary conditions and given 
nothing but fresh water and pure food to eat and drink, than from 
one raised in dirty, filthy quarters, Or has been kept in a foul coop 
for goodness knows how long, then it is time you do so at once, 
and you will never have anyth'ng on your table but poultry that 
has been raised under proper conditions. 



12 The Weight Way; ok, Practical Hixts 

THE LOVE OF LIVE THINGS. 






The love of live things is one of the strongest elements in the 
make-up of mankind. Where is the person who, at some time in 
his life, has not had or wished for a pet — be it chickens, duck, 
kittens or dogs? To become qualified as a poultry raiser one must 
become in love with the work and delightful pastime. Therefore, 
I wish to impress upon the mind of the beginner that love and care 
means more than purity of breed and superiority of kind. If one 
notices the habits of chickens they will soon perceive that kind- 
ness and gentleness will teach them that you are their friends. At 
a call from you they will come running and will allow you to pick 
them up and caress them. The satisfaction derived from this 
pleasure will be hard to explain. But I know that it is pleasing 
to love and be loved by any inoffensive, innocent live thing. 

THINK AND STUDY. 

Poultry keeping is a business that will cause the brightest to 
keep his mental faculties clear. It requires continuous study for 
the best resul's. It develops forethought and system. It pays to 
balance every detail — every move in the poultry business. There 
is a good deal more to poultry keeping than may appear on the 
surface. Eemember that experience is hands and feet to any enter- 
prise, and that right experience comes from study. Therefore, 
study and fully determine to your own satisfaction that you have 
the grit, stamina and determination in your make-up to win. Every 
person should be a good judge of his own character as well as of 
good poultry, and be able to know where the weak places are. You 
will always need a fair amount of originality and ingenuity, but 
you can get along without this much better than without character. 

After the matter of character has been disposed of, take a look 
into your pocket-book. Tf you are not sure that you have enough 
money to carry you through, wait awhile until you know that what 
is invested will not be a dead loss and that you will have some 
reserve for severe, stormy weather that may cross your path. In 
taking up poultry raising you will always find need for just that 
much more to help you along until you are able to stand alone. 
There are big poultrymen who will tell you that all you need is a 
few of their purebred hens and a house to keep them in; but that 
is not true. They well know that it took considerably more than 
that to get them on easy street. Of course, it is possible to build 
np a very large and profitable plant on a small amount of money, 
but there must be money coming in steadily from some sources to 
do the building until the liens nay for their keeping. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 15 

BEGINNERS EXPECT TOO MUCH. 

If you have never paid particular attention to poultry, but are 
beginning to be interested in the subject, I believe this little book 
will do you good. The trouble with a good many beginners is that 
they expect too much. 

I was a beginner once myself and I remember when I was in 
exactly that position. 

I thought all I had to do was to get a few chickens, take my 
ease until dollars began to roll in by the bushel; but practical ex- 
perience has taught me that you must work hand in hand with the 
poultry business, the same as you would with any other business, 
for it takes common sense and practical methods and not day- 
dreaming of some glorious future to land success. 

UPS AND DOWNS IN THE POULTRY BUSINESS 

There is no line of business one can engage in that will not 
present more or less trouble and losses to the owners, and of all 
the different kinds of business the poultry business is subjcet to 
the most of them. 

Hundreds of little things can and will happen to discourgae and 
cause a great many who undertake the business, thinking that it 
is an easy sailing, to give it up in disgust, and sometimes wish 
they could never see another chicken. 

These troubles will happen in any business in the course of time. 
It is these ups and downs that teach us object lessons that some- 
times cost us very dear that eventually brings success to many 
people. 

Those who are determined in their efforts will, as a rule, never 
quit until they have succeeded, and by careful studying the things 
that bring about failure stopping the leaks and remedying the 
troubles, usually perfection can be obtained, especially by those 
who has the patience and make a success in life of most of their 
undertakings. 

If one will stop for a few moments and think that others have 
succeeded in the same line that they are working on, they can 
surely do so, too, if they will only persist and correct the mistakes 
and troubles as soon as they have run up against them. Hundreds 
of people have invested five or ten dollars in one or two settings of 
eggs and expect to get rich from this small investment. This, of 
course, is out of the question. 



16 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

Many who have had one or two settings of eggs under hens have 
been sadly disappointed in getting only a few chickens, and prob- 
ably more disappointed find some day all of their chickens drowned 
in a rain, or have them get hold of some poisonous matters that 
will kill them, or have a cat or rat devour the entire lot. 

These things are happening every day, and, while it is discour- 
aging to have these things to contend with, they are sure to come 
to you if you stay in the poultry business, and many other torubles, 
and the only thing you can do is to never give up, but start again 
with renewed energy and determination to succeed. 

If it were possible to hatch fifty per cent, of the eggs set and 
raise fifty per cent, of the chickens hatched, on an average over the 
United States, the interest in this business would never be where 
it is to-day. 

It matters not how hard you try, we are sure to have many losses 
and many discouragements; but even with these the poultry busi- 
ness has grown and is still growing, and I do not believe it will 
ever be overdone as long as the population of the United States' is 
increas ; ng as rapidly as it has been for the past few years. 

Many who are now undertaking this venture will not succeed 
and will never try it again. Of course, a great many who have 
undertaken it will succeed, as they have their capital invested and 
have learned a great deal by experience that will enable them to 
overcome in the future the many losses' they have had in the past. 

Those who stay with it and study it thoroughly cannot help but 
succeed and make money, as it is impossible with all the efforts 
made and all of the latest methods now connected with the poultry 
business, to produce an over Supply for the mass of the people. 

The diversity of our farming interests in this country certainly 
does not mean putting this country on a safe commercial basis, 
and nothing will bring independence quicker or better than for a 
man to diversify his sources of income and not be absolutely 
dependent upon any one thing. 

Discouragements above mentioned connected with the poultry 
business apply to the farmer, they apply to the merchant, the 
manufacturer, and in all other lines of business. 

It would never do for anything to be easy sailing, because if it 
was we would soon not appreciate the many good things that we 
do have come to us. 

The poultry business has many bright sides as well as dark ones, 
and I do not believe that you can beat the poultry business if it is 
managed right. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 17 
DIFFERENT BRANCHES. 

There is nothing so interesting as the breeding industry in its 
different branches. There are so many features to cover and so 
many points to perfect that it keeps one always on the go. 

First, there is the fancy breed, the production of which necessi- 
tates constant breeding up to perfect the color scheme. 

Second, there is the egg producing branch, in which the strain 
more than the breed is the chief consideration. 

Another profitable branch of the business is the raising of 
broilers and fryers. 

These three combine the entire scale of the business, and each 
branch is practically a business within itself and has entirely 
different requirements in the way of steady preparation and 
attention. 

While all chickens require largely the same care to a certain 
degree, here the special consideration in the specialized lines, 
breeds and strains commence. 

FANCY BREEDING-. 

The fancier who is seeking to perfect a type spends no end of 
time in breeding up the birds to perfect a color scheme. 

His aim is to produce birds that will conform in every particular 
to the American standard of perfection, and he is ever seeking to 
reach this goal. 

This method of breeding is not only a source of interest and 
pleasure but of profit as well. 

EGG PRODUCTION. 

In the work of egg production it is not so much the breed as 
the strain which must be given the chief consideration. 

The Mediterranean breeds are selected most frequently for this 
purpose on many of the large egg farms. 

The reason for this is because they are non-setters ; but, as here- 
tofore stated, it is not so much the breed as the strain, and if one 
will select any one of the American breeds and secure those which 
•come from a good laying strain, bred from the best layers for 
three or four generations, they will produce a strain of fowls like 
themselves 7 . Usually a good laying hen which has not the breed 
I>ack of here, is not at all likely to produce her equal. 

It is a matter of surprise to the uninitiated the profits to be 
■derived from this branch of the business. 



18 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

BROILERS AND FRYERS. 

The raising of broilers and fryers is another profitable branch 
of the business. 

In selecting breeds for broilers the main thing should be sturdi- 
ness, early maturity and well-developed frames. 

Any of the American breeds have superior qualities and make 
good market birds. The chicks develop in all directions rapidly, 
and within eight weeks' will weigh from one and one-half to two 
pounds without difficulty, the flesh being most delicious at this 
stage. 

By intelligent management broilers and fryers sent to market 
early in the spring will pay handsome profits. 

To anyone contemplating entering the business, I would say this: 

First, investigate the profits of each particular branch of the 
business. 

Next, investigate the cost to start. 

Third, consider your feelings in the matter; your resources, the 
time you have to devote to the work, and after all these things 
have been well weighed, take up any one of the three branches 
mentioned and devote yourself exclusively to the one until you 
have gained sufficient experience to branch out. 

DIFFERENT CLASSES. 

All animals of excellence are pedigreed according to an accepted 
standard. The guide of authority for judging fowls in this country 
is known as the American Standard of Perfection. 

In breeding for exhibition purposes this book must be consulted, 
as it defines every detail as to the requisite qualifications of breeds 
and varieties. 

The different classes of poultry consist of America, Asiatic, 
Mediterranean, English, Polish, Hamburgs, French, Orientals, 
Games and Bantams. 

Each class contains its different breeds, and each and every 
breed has its different varieties, some having as many as eight 
varieties*. The breeds and varieties are so numerous that it gives 
the beginner a large field to select from. 

BEST BREED. 

The best breed is the one we like best. Having selected the 
variety, purchase six or eight hens and a male bird from a reliable 
breeder, and with a hen house built as nearly as possible as it is 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 21 

described in this book, you are ready to begin raising poultry. The 
above number of fowls will give better results than a larger num- 
ber. It will insure you a large percentage of fertile eggs and 
prevent crowding, which causes disease. 

MATING. 

Mating birds for best results is a very important matter. To 
breed a fowl of any kind requires thought, Skill, observation and 
study. The parent stock should be sound in constitution, free from 
any complaint and having not been through any very severe or 
dangerous illness; consider the result if raised without change of 
blood for a long time and no attention to line breeding. In such 
cases' you may expect progeny, somewhat weak, difficult to bring 
up and many succumbing under hard times in chickenhood. 

Incestuous mating always lowers constitution. Never breed from 
brother and sister. Pullets with their sires or grandsires, cockrels 
with their dames or granddames, breed strong, healthy chickens. 
The female generally gives size and the male color and head points. 

Breed from as perfect birds as possible; perfect from a breeding 
standpoint, though they may not be show birds. 

In selecting the male birds great care must be taken, as he is 
half your pen. If the cock or cockrel is not right, all is wrong. 

The quality of your hens are of no less importance than those of 
the cock; good judgment should be used, for they have their little 
whims and fancies, likes and dislikes, as capricious and unaccount- 
able as those of other females. 

Some are gentle in their manner and disposition, others are 
sanguinary, some are lazy, others energetic almost to insanity. 

The success in the matter in the selection of hens for mating and 
breeding purposes requires study, care and a considerable degree 
of patience. 

LOCATION. 

The first thing which naturally confronts the man or woman who 
contemplates starting in the poultry business, either for profit or 
pleasure, or both, is "Location." To the farmer or the breeder 
in the rural districts this is no object, of course, since he has 
plenty of ground and his real problem is to find his chickens and 
their nest once he has turned them loose in the weeds and woods. 
This chapter, however, I shall devote to the man or woman who 
lives in the city, who may have a little, weed-grown back yard, 
available, apparently, for no good use and a sort of eyesore, as it 



22 



The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 



were, to the good housewife. Now, it is on just such a backyard 
as this that I established what, as I before said, has been graciously 
styled by some of the biggest fanciers of the country, "The Show 
Place of Poultrydom. ' ' 



PREPARATION OF GROUND. 

The first thing necessary in this transformation of a weed-grown 
back lot into a poultry yard, is, of course, the proper filling of the 
ground, gravelling and preparation of such nature to make it clean, 
wholesome and dry at all times. If your back lot is high and dry, 
and naturally well drained, of course it will need no filling. A 
good, compact loam is the healthiest and best base earth for a 
small yard, but almost any sort of soil will do. If, on the contrary, 
however, your lot is swampy and wet, and not well drained, it will 
be necessary for you to fill and grade to drainage levels, which can 
be done by any man who understands the use of a line strip of 
board, say, 10 feet in length, and a spirit level, which may be 
bought or borrowed almost anwhere. The proper fall to drain the 
chicken yard should in every case be one-quarter of an inch to the 
foot, or three inches to twelve feet, 15 inches' to 60 feet, and so on. 

This means to say that the fall or drainage level should be 
established on the base earth or bed soil, as the gravel will seep 
the water and drain itself naturally, so no level in the gravel has 
to be established for this purpose. 

The system I use is the drainage-tile plain — draining from back 
to front and emptying into the main street sewer. 

So, then, first of all, fill the yard with whatever material is at 
hand which will form a solid soil over which the water will run. 

So shape the yard that the drainage will be all to the middle, 
looking the low way of the yard. In other words, the graded yard 
before the gravel is placed, should represent the comb roof of a 
house turned upside down, the fall from each side of the yard being 
toward the middle, the degree being one-quarter of an inch to the 
foot. 

Then, which ever way the sewer connects or outlet lays, the end- 
to-end yard fall should be a quarter of an inch to the foot, as has 
been said. 

In the middle, or lowest line, the drain title line is placed, this 
carrying the water off from the pens, which should be placed on 
each side of the yard, with a walkway or promenade between. 

This gives the housing the effect of residence, if you please, 
the poultry runways in front of the housing being the sidewalks 
and the promenade between the street. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 23 

The housing and pens are set before the gravel surface isf 
placed. After the housing is built, the gravel is then spread 
uniformly over the top to a depth of from four to six inches. 

The gravel should be of a fineness sufficient to allow it to pass 
easily through a half-inch screen, this being known as torpedo 
gravel, taking its names because it resembles in size the paper 
torpedoes used by boys around Christmas time. 

This does not hurt the chickens' feet, makes a good scratching 
ground, and after the heaviest rain will have drained in an hour. 
This gravel should cover the surface of the whole yard up to the 
entrance of the house, but the house floors should be of earth. 

The cost will depend, of course, upon the locality of the yard, 
the original condition, the rilling necessary, the accessibility to 
gravel supply and the amount of work one cares to do one's Self. 

The cost of filling can be accurately ascertained by the advice 
of an excavating contractor, who should charge nothing for it. 
Gravel in most cases costs about $3 per load, and one load of 
gravel is sufficient to surface one pen. 

Now that the ground is prepared, the housing is the next 
problem. 

HOUSING. 

MATERIAL. 

The material used in the construction of the chicken houses 
should be "C" grade pine. Two-by-fours are used for the sills 
and foundations, set on corner foundations of two bricks well 
bedded. 

The walls are of one-by-twelve dress boards. The roof is con- 
structed of galvanized iron. The strips are one-by-six. 

This is the material I used and my houses cost me each $10. The 
house may be constructed much cheaper than this, however, by 
using cheaper materials and by not putting on an expensive paint, 
and so on. In fact, unless the breeder wants to spend the money, 
I should advise a cheaper construction in the house, only insisting 
that they be made perfectly comfortable, have good ventilation, 
be clean, sanitary and water-proof, leaving to the builder the 
choice of such materials as may be found suitable for the purpose 
and may at the same time be cheaper and most easily secured. 

DIMENSIONS OF HOUSES. 

The floor space over all should be 60 square feet, divided 10 feet 
wide by 6 feet deep. The height should be 7 feet in front by 8 
in the back. This makes possible a drain gutter in front of the 
roof, carrying the water into the yard instead of your neighbor's. 



?he Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

The first process is to set the corner brick foundations. Upon 
these are laid four-by-fours, the ends being mortised together, this 
forming the foundation. 

At each corner is set an upright post, these being two-by-fours<; 
they are spiked well to the foundation four-by-fours. 

Between corners are set a two-by-four on the the side, another 
in the back and another in the front. 

These are cut to proper height to support the window sills, for 
which purpose they are put in. 

Each side of the window supporting two-by-fours should set 
exactly between the corner uprights, an equal distance from each. 

In the back the two-by-fours should be placed the same way. 
In front the door is placed at one corner and the two-by-four to 
support the window is placed half-way between the side of the 
door and the corner upright set next to it. 

On top of the upright the two-by-fours are placed exactly as 
the four-by-fours are laid, the ends' being spiked into the uprights 
and the horizontal top frame being mortised. 

The windows should be two-by-two feet, with four light glasses. 
The windows should be placed as high a^ possible in the house, 
thus throwing the chickens' below the draft when they are sitting 
on the roost. 

All windows should be provided with swinging sashes, which may 
be closed in winter time, and these should be fit closely enough in 
the frame to prevent cold drafts from finding their way into the 
house when the windows are closed. Just under the window 
should be placed a trap-door to allow the chickens to pass from 
the house to the run without using the large door. This prevents 
them from scartching the straw from the house into the runs. 
This trap-door should be 10 inches wide by 14 inches high and 
should be raised about 6 inches from the ground. 

On top of the upper frame are laid one-by-six strips at a dis- 
tance of eight inches apart. Upon these are tacked the roofing. 
The roof may be of galvanized iron, tar, or gravel paper, or, in 
fact, any material that is water-proof and durable. 



ROOSTS. 

The roosts are built as follows: For accommodation of from 
sevrn to nine chickens': 

First is built the frame, with four legs, one at each corner. The 
logs are two-by-two material and are twelve inches high. Set on 
these legs is a strip frame one-by-two, mortised at corners. On 
this frame which should stand just like a table twelve inches 
high, three feet long by fourteen inches wide. 




'I'll Be Back in a Minute, But I've Got to Go Now." 
Single-Comb Rhode Island Red Cock Bird. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 27 

On top of this frame should be set the nest boxes. These are 
built as follows: The box is made three feet long and twelve 
inches high by fourteen inches wide. Three partitions' are placed 
so as to equally divide this space. Three draws are then con- 
structed which slides in and out of these partitions. The draws 
should be six inches deep on all sides; in the back the draw should 
have a semi-circle cut out that is large enough to allow the hen 
to get in and out. The entire back of the nest box is open, and 
it is there that the hens get in to lay. 

A board eight inches wide should be hinged at the top of the 
nest frame. This can be dropped down, making the nest dark. 

The top of the nest frame is formed by the dropping board. 
This board should be 4 feet long, 3 feet wide, and should be 
hinged to the wall, so that it may be raised against the back wall 
and hooked. 

Six inches above this dropping board should be hinged the roost, 
these also being attached to the back wall of the house. 

The roosts are simply two strips of two-by-two, rounded and 
dressed smooth, so as not to hurt the chicken's feet, with two 
strips of one-by-two at each end holding them. 

Thus, when the roost frame is complete, you have two strips of 
one-by-two 2 feet long hinged to the back wall with two legs 6 
inches high attached to the front end. This dropping in to sup- 
port when the strips are brought down forward from the wall. 
Fastened always to these two strips are the roosting bars, twelve 
inches apart, the rear bar being 12 inches from the wall of the 
building. This then allows the roosting frame to be hooked up 
against the wall, and the dropping board when raised lays right 
up over against the wall, this exposing the draw nests, which 
may be pulled from the nest box, leaving the frame with its three 
partitions closed at both ends open, in front and back. The front 
of the nest drawer forming the front of the frame and the back 
of the drawer being so hollowed down as to allow the ingress and 
egress of the hen. 

This sort of roost is the best known for modern chicken breeders. 

PENS AND RUNWAYS. 

The pens or runaways in front of the house which we have now 
completed, should be 19 feet deep by 10 feet wide. This makes 
the space required for the house and run 25 feet by 10. This 
space is ample to accommodate six or eight hens and one male 
bird. 

On each side, 9 feet from the corner of the house, should be set 
the first post. Ten feet in front of this should be set the next 



28 



The Wright Way; ok. Practical Hints 



post, while the gate posts may be placed any place in front that 
may be desired. 

\ top board i by 6, and a base board 1 by L2, extends on both 
sides and in front, forming a frame to which chicken netting is 
tacked, thus making the pen and runway, in localities where 
hawks are bad chicken netting may be placed over the top, as 
well as the sides, thus protecting the birds from predatory animals 
or fowls. 

AWNINGS FOR SHADING FOWLS. 

In my own case 1 have no shrubbery or trees, so in order to 
have the proper shade I have constructed wooden awnings or sheds. 
Those awnings are the entire length of the house and 6 feet wide, 
supporting them by corner posts o\' two-by-fours and giving them 
sufficient pitch to drain the water from the front edge back to 
the roof, where the drain gutter is placed. This gives a "V 
shape to the roo\' and shed awning. This may be done if the 

breeder s t > desires. The shed can be constructed of such material 
as will shed rain, to cost, of course, upon material used and 
beaut v o\' construction. 



TABLE OF COST. 

Below 1 give B table o\' cost for constructing a chicken yard, 
this befog on a oasis of one pen which will Successfully accom- 
modate a flock o-C six or eight hens and a male bird. 

While, of course, this cost must be greater or less, as goverend 

by circumstances the class o( material Uflfed, the tastes of the man 
or woman going into the business, the accessibility of supplies, and 
the amount o\' work one hires done, together with the cost of 
labor in your particular section. This is? based on the average and 
may be safely computed and multiplied, according to the number 
<ms (Mic desires to put in: 

Pilling ground $2.00 

Drainage 1.00 

Gravelling 3.00 

House 10.00 

Roost nest boxes 3.00 

Pen in closure Z.0(\ 



Total $22.00 

Shed, extra, if desired ?>.oo 



Grand total cost of 



en $25.00 







Single-Comb Rhode [sland Red Hen. 
( )ne of My Beauties. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 31 

BROODING CONSTRUCTIONS. 

The lumber used is "C" grade ceiling. 

The brooders' are constructed indoors and are facing the east; in 
this position they get the morning sun, which is beneficial to the 
health of the tiny chicken. 

The brooders are three feet wide by six feet long, partitioned 
off into two compartments, size three feet by three feet. The back 
of each compartment has a door two by two feet square; the front 
has a facing of mosquito wire, which is protected by a sash three 
feet wide by four feet long. Each sash has six. glasses and can 
be raised and lowered to give the proper ventilation. An opening 
four inches square is cut in the partition for the chicks' to pass 
from one end of the brooder to the other. One side is for the 
hoover and the other for the play ground. 

HOOVER. 

The hoover is a circuit board two feet in diameter, covered 
with strips of cloth to which is sewed feathers. The strips are 
tacked one inch apart, the feathers hanging downward, one inch 
from the floor. 

The hoover proper is eight inches high. Extending downward 
from the top of the brooder is* a radiator made of galvanized iron; 
a safety iron case is attached under the radiator, in which is placed 
a No. 2 incubator lamp, which, when in operation, throws the heat 
up to the radiator, thus distributing the heat equally to produce 
the temperature desired. 

The inside of the brooder is whitewashed, which is very neces- 
sary and beneficial for the health of the little chicks. 

FERTILE EGGS. 

In order that you may have the very best and most fertile eggs 
and take care of them properly, you must first see to it that your 
parent fowls have not been inbred to the extent of injuring their 
vigor. 

You must have good, lively male birds. 

Discard all the ill-shaped and mottled eggs, and do not use the 
first dozen eggs from a pullet unless she be fully developed, or 
about 11 or 12 months' old. 



32 



The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 



CARE OF EGGS. 

In gathering your eggs for hatching, handle them carefully, 
placing in baskets or egg cabinets, keeping them preferably in a 
temperature between 50 and 60 degrees, and away from the flies. 

To prevent thin-shelled eggs you must feed or keep before your 
fowls lime in some form, which is the food that forms the shell. 

Oyster shells' is the best-known form of lime feed we have now. 

Poultry that is penned up in small runs must be given, as near 
as possible, everything that free range provides — such as meat, to 
take the place of bugs, green stuff of some kind (anything they eat 
with a relish is good). 

Without these things you cannot make a success. 

The eggs from a pen of fowls not having the right attention 
may hatch, and hatch well, but the little fellows will be small 
and weak; will not start the quick growth so necessary to a good 
bird, and they will die before they get 10 days old. 

When they are hard to put your hand on at 24 hours old, and 
can jump over your hand, they are all right and will weigh one 
to one and a quarter pounds at seven weeks old. 



RUNNING AN INCUBATOR. 

These remarks as to running an incubator are intended for 
those just starting in the poultry business and not for the old- 
timer. 

The directions given are in a general way the main points. I 
will not argue the question whether the incubator or the hen 
hatches- the most eggs. 

Incubators are not perfect, nor have they the hatching powers 
of the hen in which all the natural instincts are developed, but 
the incubator should have its just dues. It is a necessity. 

Most of the poultrymen of the country who are in it for what 
they can make, use the incubator, for only by artificial process 
can poultry be grown profitably in large numbers, for early 
broilers for home use or for the market. 

For early roasters ahead of the usual season, or if you want 
early chicks, an incubator is a necessity. 

There are other advantages possessed by the incubator. Chicks 
hatched by artificial incubation will be free from lice, the in- 
cubator will not step on the little chicks and crush the life out 
of them. 

The most important thing to do is to buy a first-class machine. 
If it is a good make one set of rules will supply for all. 

Your machine should bo operated in a place where you can at 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 33 

all times maintain an even temperature, and where It would never 
come in contact with a draught. The room should be dry, the 
machine should be level and steady. 

THE LAMP. 

The lamp should be kept in order and made to burn with a clean 
white flame, so that it does not smoke and so it can be turned 
either up or down without smoking. - This is essential. The blaze 
must be good from the start, and the regulator balanced to a 
good flame. This must be done before the eggs go in the incubator. 
It is much easier and safer to experiment with the lamp and 
regulator when the egg chamber is empty than when the machine 
is full of eggs. 

A few hours spent in adjusting will be time saved later on. 

The incubator should be run with the tray empty for at least 
24 hours before the eggs are placed in the egg chamber, giving 
it a chance to get warm throughout, and also giving the operator 
time to practice in adjusting the regulator, so that it will keep 
the heat at the proper temperature, which should be exactly 102 
degrees before the hatch is started. 

HOW TO PLACE EGGS. 

At the end of 24 hours again fill the lamp, trim the wick and 
with the machine running at a regular heat of 102 degrees, the 
egg tray loaded according to directions should be placed in the 
egg chamber. The eggs should be clean and fresh. Never pile 
them one on the other when filling the tray; put in eggs enough 
to fill completely every space with every egg lying upon its side. 
Do not stand them on the end. 

The filled tray now being placed in the incubator close the door 
without slamming it. 

The machine can now be left alone. The temperature will fall, 
but do not change the adjustment, as it takes some time for the 
eggs to attain the right temperature. 

At the end of the first 2.4 hours after the hatch has been 
week; the temperature should be maintained as steady as possible, 
week; the eggs should be maintained as steady as possible. 

During the first week the eggs will require careful attention. 
After the second day I find that the best results are obtained 
by turning the eggs twice a day and cooling them once a day up 
to the time they begin to pip. For the first week the eggs should 
be cooled ten minutes. 

After turning the eggs in the morning turn the tray from side 
to side. 

After turning at night turn the tray from end to end. In turn- 



34 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

ing the eggs it is not necessary to See that each egg is turned 
exactly half over; simply change the position. 

At five clays the embryo commences to take life, which on the 
seventh clay can be plainly seen. 

All first-class machines send egg testers with machine. Every 
egg should be carefully tested. 

BARREN EGGS. 

A perfectly clear egg is not fertile, a cloudy egg is imperfect. 
These should be removed. The clear eggs can be used for good 
and the cloudy ones should be ds'troyed. 

At the beginning of the second week the temperature should be 
raised to 103 degrees and kept at that point until the nine- 
teenth day. 

TURNING THE EGGS. 

The eggs should be turned twice daily as during the first week, 
and when turning the last time at night they should be cooled 
from 20 to 30. minutes, according to the temperature of the room; 
the rules as above are used during the last week, the only change 
made is to cool five minutes longer. 

As soon as the eggs begin to pip let the thermometer go up 
to 104 or 105 degrees, being careful not to let it go any higher, 
as this heat will assist in liberating the chicks, and no attempt 
should be made to lower it, for too low a temperature at the time 
of exclusion is fatal to a good hatch. 

Do not open the incubator door to read the temperature; do 
not open the door after the nineteenth day until the hatch is 
cleaned up, which usually takes from 24 to 36 hours after the 
first chick hatches. 

I have always had successful hatches by following this method. 
Nearly every machine is accompanied by a card of directions for 
operating it, which should be studied and followed. 

HATCHING WITH HENS. 

All sorts of interesting and uninteresting advice has been given 
about "setting hens." When persons have one good hatch, to 
them the problem is solved, and they know exactly how to do it. 

In setting eggs for hatching, one of the most important points 
to be observed is the correct proportioning of the number of eggs 
a hen is capable of covering. The great error of setting a hen on 
more eggs than she can eover, is the cause of very general dis- 
appointment. 

A hen cannot hatch out chickens from those eggs which she 
cannot draw up dose to her body and give them the natural 




Age, Tex Months. Weight, Eight Pounds. 

Single-Comb Rhode Island Red Cockerel. 

Hatched and Raised in My Yards. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 37 

warmth they require in the process of incubation. Good hatches 
are impossible without fresh, fertile eggs. 

SELECTION OF EGGS. 

The proper selection of eggs plays an important part in the suc- 
cessful issue to which they are brought under the influence of in- 
cubation. To imagine that any eggs collected from the nest in a 
haphazard manner are suitable for hatching, is a mistake. 

Eggs chosen for hatching purposes should be of normal size, of 
nice shape, clean and possessing smooth shells. They should be 
the product of strong, vigorous breeders. 

Be careful in selecting a hen, as much depends upon the hen 
and the way she is set. A flighty, ill-natured hen should never 
be set, no matter how persistent she may be, as such hens seldom 
make good mothers. 

GENTLE HENS IMPORTANT. 

A quiet, gentle hen should be selected, her nest placed in a 
quiet, secluded corner where the layers cannot disturb her, and 
she should be sheltered so as to prevent rain water from finding 
its way to the nest. 

One understanding the nature of a setting hen knows that she 
is always 1 turning and changing the positions of the eggs, and, 
unless she has ample space in which to turn, she tramples on them 
and many valuable eggs are broken through having the nest too 
small. 

Poor results in hatching with the hen may be traced to but 
a few causes, providing the eggs are what they should be. Broken 
eggs in the nest is the most common cause of failures, and neglect 
to thoroughly cleanse the shells so the pores will be opened. 

During the first week of incubation it will not injure the embryo 
if the eggs are coated with the contents of the broken eggs for 
24 hours. If coated the second week the chances are against them 
and it will probably kill the chicks. 

THE NEST. 

The nest for brooding hens should be 15 inches square, 12 inches 
high in the back and sides, and the front 6 inches high, which 
enables the hen to get on and off the nest in any easy manner, 

Nests should be framed out of clean straw, not chaff. Do not 
make them hollow, as the eggs pile on top of each other and thus 
are broken. It should be made perfectly flat. 

The hen should be dusted three times during incubation with 
some reliable insect powder to free her from any lice or mites. 
Just before the chicks are expected to hatch another liberal dust- 
ing should be given her. 



38 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

EGG ADVICE. 

Valuable eggs should not be bought before brooders are secured 
to set upon them. The hen should be placed on her nest and tested 
for reliability before the eggs are set. Get the setters right first, 
and the eggs will, if from proper sources, turn out all right at the 
finish. 

If novices at chicken hatching will follow the above simple rules, 
the breeders who sell eggs for hatching purposes will get less un- 
deserved abuse from their customers. 

TO DISCOURAGE A BROODY HEN. 

A good way to discourage a broody hen is to place her with 
others in a not too roomy coop with a slated front, where she 
can see the other chickens scratching and running about. 

She should be fed sparingly, because at this time her appetite 
is greatly reduced. 

If she is fed once a day it will be sufficient, but her food should 
increase to keep pace with her appetite. 

Of course, no two hens are exactly alike, nor can specific treat- 
ment be accorded to each individual. 

This being the case, it would be good sense to treat all alike 
and with uniform kindness, keeping in mind always her valuable 
qualities and her good condition when she is wanted to rear a 
family.* 

RAISING AND BROODING OF CHICKS. 

Hatching chickens is very easily done, but raising them is a 
more s'erious matter. The successful rearing of chicks depends 
largely upon the condition of the parent stock. Vitality is the 
foundation of successful chick raising. It is useless to try to raise 
chicks -that have not been hatched from eggs laid by healthy 
vigorous stock. In this article I wish to set forth my method of 
feeding and brooding in brooders of my own make. 

PREPARING FOR CHICKS. 

In preparing the brooder to receive a hatch, I first scrub the 
floor as clean as possible. After it is thoroughly dry, sprinkle with 
coarse sand to a depth of two inches. On top of the sand I scatter 
alfalfa. This is done to teach the chicks to scratch. 

Aiter heating the broodei to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, it is ready 
to receive the chicks, which are taken from the incubator and 
placed under the hoover. 

Maintaining this heal tor the first week. 




One of My Young Red Pullets. 
Age, Four Months. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 41 

At the beginning of the second week gradually reduce the tem- 
perature from 5 to 10 degrees, and then gradually reduce the tem- 
perature to correspond with the temperature of the outside world, 
providing this' temperature is not below 70 degrees. 

FEEDING YOUNG CHICKS. 

The way to feed chicks has a great deal to do with success. I 
do not feed for forty-eight hours after they are hatched. The first 
food is the coarse sand that covers the floor of the brooder. This 
supplies them with natural grit. Dry, coarse wheat bran is next 
placed before them in galvanized feed hoppers' and is kept there 
always, for there is nothing better during its existence than dry 
wheat bran. 

They will not eat much at first, but when they are educated to 
eat bran it is astonishing to see the amount they will consume. 
Then give them a small feed of good commercial chick food, a 
tablespoonful five times a day to every 25 chickens. 

After the ninth day feed greens of some kind each day. A very 
little at first, gradually increasing the amount as they grow older. 
Sprouted oats, lettuce, cabbage, young grass, or clover cut up very. 
fine will do. 

After ten days increase the amount of chick food and decrease 
the times of feeding until at one month of age they are fed three 
times a day. 

In watering chicks place a drinking fountain of fresh, clean 
water where they can reach it conveniently, and they will soon 
discover it and learn to drink. 

When six weeks of age the chick food may be discontinued. 
The chicks should now be given larger quarters, for they should 
never be overcrowded. 

You may now feed them the ordinary commercial food, which 
must be fresh and of good quality. Charcoal should be before 
them all the time. They will require finely ground lean meat twice 
a week. Should you be unable to get the fresh meat give them 
beef scraps, which should be sifted, the fine portion being fed to 
the young chicks and the coarser part given to the older fowls. 
Beef scraps can be purchased at any time from any of the poultry 
supply stores. 

As chicks grow older they should have as much space as it is 
possible to spare them, shielded from winds, drafts and dampness. 
Sanitary conditions 1 are absolutely necessary. 

You will have to depend upon your own judgment for many 
things that could not be told here. Just think and use common 
sense, prompted by close observation, and success is assured. 



42 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

CHANGES WHICH AN EGG UNDERGOES. 
IN HATCHING. 

The process of incubation of the chicken is a Subject not only 
curious, but very interesting. 

It generally takes 21 days' to hatch a brood of chickens. 

The expiration of that time should be carefully watched for, 
not that the chickens requires any assistance, but, on the con- 
trary, interference is much more likely to prove an injury than 
a benefit. 

A healthy chick will perform all that is required to free it from 
the shell. 

' It is' wonderful the power they possess wlrle rolled up in so 
apparently a helpless mass; the head, however, that makes the most 
exertion to free itself, is placed so as to leave room for reaction 
and to turn round and thus to peck a circle and break around 
the large end of the shell, admitting the air by degrees, until it 
becomes gradually prepared to extricate itself. 

DIFFERENT CHANGES. 

The hen has s'et on her eggs scarcely 12 hours before some 
lineaments of the head and body of the chicken appear. 

The heart may be seen to beat at the end of of the second 
day. It has at that time somewhat the form of a horseshoe, but 
no blood yet appears. 

At the end of two days two vesicles of blood are to be dis- 
tinguished, the pulsation of which is very visible. One of these" 
is the left ventricle and the other the root of the great artery. 

At the fiftieth hour one auricle of the heart appears, resembling 
a noose folded down upon itself. 

The beating of the heart is first observed in the auricle, and 
afterwards in the ventricle. 

FIRST VOLUNTARY MOTION. 

At the end of 70 hours the wings are distinguishable; and on 
the head two bubbles are seen for the brain, one for the bill and 
two for the fore and hind part of the head. 

Towards the end of the fourth day the two auricles already 
visible draw nearer to the heart than before 1 . 

The liver appears toward tin 1 fifth day. 

At the end of ]:\\ hours the first voluntary motion is observed. 

At the end of seven hours more the lungs and the stomach 
become visible, and four hours afterward the intestines and loins 

and the upper .jaw. 

At the fourteenth hour two ventricles are visible, and two 
drops of blood instead of the single one which was seen before. 




A Promising Young Red Pullet. 
Age, Three and One-Half Months. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 45 

THE SEVENTH DAY. 

On the seventh day the brain begins 1 . 

At the 119th hour of incubation the bill opens and the flesh 
appears on the breast. 

In four hours more the breast bone is seen. 

In six hours after this the ribs appear, forming the back, and 
the bill is very visible, as well as the gall bladder. 

The bill becomes green at the end of 236 hours, and if the 
chicken be taken out of its covering it evidently moves itself. 

THE EYES APPEAR. 

The feathers begin .to shoot out towards the 240th hour, and 
the skull becomes gristly. 

At the 264th hour the eyes appear. 

At the 288th the ribs are perfect. 

At the 331st the spleen draws near the stomach and the lungs 
to the chest. 

At the end of 355 hours the bill frequently opens and shuts, 
and at the end of the eighteenth day the first cry of the chicken 
is heard.. 

It afterwards gets more strength and grows continually, till at 
length it is enabled to set itself free from its confinement. 

In the whole of this process every part appears at its proper 
time; if, for example, the liver is formed on the fifth day, it is 
founded on the preceding situation of the chicken, and on the 
changes that were to follow. 

No part of the body could possibly appear either sooner or 
later without the whole embryo suffering, and each of the limbs 
become visible at the first moment. 

This ordination, so wise and so invariable, is manifestly the 
work of a Supreme Being, but we must still more sensibly ac- 
knowledge His creative powers when we consider the manner in 
which the chicken is formed out of the parts which compose 
the egg. 

How astonishing it must appear to an observing mind that 
in this substance there should at all be the vital principle of 
animated being; that all the parts of an animal 's body should 
be concealed in it, and require nothing but heat to unfold and 
quicken them; that the whole formation of the chicken should 
be so constant and regular; that exactly at the same time the 
same changes will take place in the generality of the eggs; that 
the chicken, the moment it is hatched, is heavier than the egg 
was before. 

But even these are not all the wonders in the formation of 
the bird from the egg — for this instance will serve to illustrate 



-±6 The Weight Way; or, Practical Hints 

the whole of the feathered tribe — there are others altogether 
hidden from our observation and of which, from our very limited 
faculties, we must ever remain ignorant. 

The above article was taken from an old volume of the Gen- 
esee Farmer and Gardeners' Journal of July, 1833, and we trust 
will be of interest to our many readers. 

VITALITY THAT EGGS CONTAIN. 

This problem puzzles most poultrymen and one would wonder 
how it could be explained. 

For example, take fertile eggs only and fill the incubator. 

Light the lamp and don't test the eggs till 21 days have ex- 
pired, when most of the eggs hatch. 

When testing those that don't hatch you find some, (probablv 
only one) that are not clear, but have an even cloudy look. 

You break the egg and it is rotten. 

This egg has no vitality, at all, therefore the germ is dead, 
which made the egg rotten. 

If a vegetable seed has no vitality it is dead, and when yon 
plant it it simply rots. 

Xext is the egg with the black spot in it, called the weak 
germ, and dies on the tenth day of incubation. 

This egg had 10 per cent, of vitality, therefore it had only 10 
per cent, of blood and 10 per cent, of animal heat, and when you 
took the eggs out of the incubator to cool this* egg cooled off 
ten times as quick as the perfect egg that has 100 per cent, of 
heat. The egg became so cold that the germ chilled to death. 

Xext is the egg that produces the chick that dies in the shell. 

This egg had 20 per cent, vitality. 

The chick is only one-fifth as strong as it should be, and when 
the time of incubation has expired and the chick begins to 
breathe, it is too weak to break the shell and it smothers to 
death. 

Xext is the chick that broke the shell but cannot get out, and 
then we find the shell dried fast to the chick. 

Some folks claim there was not enough moisture", but they are 
mistaken. 

The egg this chick is from only had 30 per cent, of the vitality 
and the chick is only 30 per cent, as strong as it ought to be, 
amd it was so slow getting out of the shell that the dry air in 
the rncubator soon dried the thin skin that is between the chick 
and shell which makes the skin tough and the chick is caught 
like a fly in the web. 

This skin is weak when moist, and strong when dry. 







< 



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p 

o 

Pk 
!* 

Pi 

< 

S 

< 
CO 






w 

PL. 

o 

g 

o 
w 

w 
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< 



H 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 49 

Just the same as moist paper is weak and dry paper is strong. 

Next is the chick that dies when one week old. 

The egg had 40 per cent, vitality and the chick has 40 per 
cent, of a constitution and weak digestive organs. 

It has hard work to digest the yolk of the egg that nature has 
placed within it, and when it eats it dies with indigestion. 

Next is the chick that grows to feathers and dies at the danger 
line. 

The feathers only grow natural and the body stops growing. 

The egg had 50 per cent, vitality, and as it takes 50 per cent, 
of vitality to grow feathers', the feathers draw that amount from 
the body and the body fades away and the chick dies because it 
has no vitality to live on. 

Next is the chick that stops growing when it is only half -grown, 
with its head drawn back between its shoulders. 

It has indigestion and that causes' bowel trouble. 

The chick gets weaker every day and finally dies. 

The egg the chick hatched from had 60 per cent of vitality. 

Xext is the chick you find lying on the ground, as if dead, 
some cold morning or chilly day. 

The egg and chick had 70 per cent, vitality. 

It is lacking 30 per cent, in animal heat and feathers, and 
when damp, chilly weather sets in in the fall it cannot help but 
take cold. 

It has a thick slime in its mouth that it keeps chewing at. 

It has a good appetite but mopes around and finally gets the 
white diarrhoea and dies. 

Next is the full grown chick that takes cold in a draft at 
night or overcrowded coop. 

When it leaves the warm coop it cools off too quickly, as it 
is lacking in feathers, because the egg only had 80 per cent, 
vitality. 

The chick has not enough self-sustaining material to preserve 
the body. 

The blood contains too much water, and as the eye is the 
weakest member of the body it will decompose first, like it does 
in all creatures that die. 

Then the body wastes away or goes into consumption, and the 
chick dies. 

Next is the pullet that lays late in the spring and in summer, 
and then only at intervals. 

The egg has 90 per cent, vitality and the pullet is lacking 10 
per cent, in every respect, and because some of the food the 
pullet eats goes towards supplying the missing 10 per cent, the 
pullet cannot lay every day. 



50 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

Next is the pullet that begins to lay at five months of age, 
or the hen that is a good winter layer. 

The egg she was hatched from had 100 per cent, of vitality 
and she had 100 per cent, of blood, animal heat and feathers, 
therefore, her body is protected from cold weather, and that is 
why she lays in winter. 

She can roost in a tree, in a draft or in the over-crowded coop 
and not take cold, because her thick coat of feathers and her 
perfect animal heat prevents her from cooling off to such an 
extent that s»he can take cold. 

She can eat anything. 

She can indure anything that nature will put upon her, because 
she is as nature intended she should be — perfect in every respect. 

Some one may ask how I know these eggs have the amount of 
vitality I claim they have. 

We all know the more vitality a creature has the more he can 
endure, and the more he can edure the longer he will live. 

The weak germ, with 10 per cent, of vitality, that die on the 
tenth day, cannot stand the shock of being cooled as much as 
the other eggs. 

The chick with 50 per cent, vitality that dies at the danger 
line could not stand the shock of giving 50 per cent, of vitality 
to grow feathers. 

The perfect chicken, with 100 per cent, of vitality, can stand 
these shocks, and that is why it lives. 

There is certainly no pleasure in hatching weak chicks. 

There is certainly no money in them, and most poultrymen 
incubate strong eggs only that produce good winter layers, as 
they are the ones that pay off the mortgage on the farm and 
swell their bank accounts, and the few that hatch chicks that do 
not reach maturity do it through ignorance. 

In some respects ignorance is bliss — but not in the poultry 
business. W. F. KEMPEK. 



FOUNDATION STOCK. 

It is useless to begin with poor stock. You will find after it 
is too late, and you have wasted good time and money in common 
mixed chickens, that it is all wasted. Why should any person 
wish to fill his yard with an unsightly mixture of scrub chickens 
picked up from any place that yon know nothing of? Take a 
yard filled with any of the thoroughbred birds and a person only 
has to look at them to fall in love with them. And the desire 
at once assails them for something of the kind. That it is a 
proven fact that thoroughbred chickens lay best, grow faster. 



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For Poultry Profits ix the P>ack Yard. 53 

and if you want to sell the eggs or chickens you can get a price, 
for in a poultry-loving place like Louisiana there is no fear of 
not being able to get buyers for eggs or surplus stock. If you 
have the real thing all you have to do is to let the people know 
you have them. The best way to do this is to advertise in a 
good poultry journal. 

In buying for a start, if you don't care to spend much money, 
invest in some good eggs. Buy only from responsible people. 
If you can afford birds, study the description of the different 
fowls and make up your mind which will be the best for your 
location and purpose, and if possible get some experienced friend 
to help you buy. But, if you can't do that, then read over the 
various descriptions of different breeds, which will help you some 
as to color, size, shape of body and comb. Also, try to get young 
hens. You need not buy them all from the same yard. If the 
eggs or chickens you buy from a dealer prove as he represented 
them, it would be a good idea to stay with him if you need more. 

ONE VARIETY MORE PROFITABLE THAN 

MANY. 

' ' That there is* a certain fascination in being surrounded by 
fowls diverse in shape and various in coloring, cannot be success- 
fully denied, " says H. S. Babcock in Poultry Monthly. 

That many poultrymen succumb to this fascination is obvious 
to anyone who will glance at the various advertisements in a 
poultry journal and the different poultry publications. But that 
a single variety is enough for most breeders and contains the 
promise of greater success, it is believed, is the simple truth. 

Every breeder should aim to win the highest possible round 
of success; as a rule he is not a breeder "for his health" only, 
but because there is joy and profit in doing something a little 
better than anybody else has Succeeded in doing. 

Good birds are perhaps desirable, but the best are only desired 

To the condition of the best the breeder exerts his muscle 
and exercises his "grey matter." 

That is his aim and purpose in life. To breed any variety 
so as to get the most out of it, and by this is meant to produce 
the finest specimens and make such specimens pay the greatest 
profit, this requires a thorough knowledge of its history, its char- 
acteristics, its capacities and its breeding tendencies. 



54 The Wright Way ; ok, Practical Hints 

SINGLE VARIETY. 

He who limits his choice to a single variety is more likely to 
obtain the requisite knowledge and obtain it in less time than 
he who scatters his' efforts over many breeds and varieties. 

It is easier to master one science than to learn something about 
many sciences, and it is also much more valuable. 

By studying a single variety one learns more thoroughly its 
correct type, its particular coloration, its habits and character- 
istics; how to breed, manage and care for it, so as to make it 
thrive and pay; and how to mate so as to improve its' character- 
istics; how to hatch and rear so as to avoid loss and promote its 
development; in brief, one learns the strong and weak points of 
the variety, its merits and demerits and what must be done to 
increase one and decrease the other. 

With the single variety the foundation of a correct ideal of 
what the fowls should be and may become is comparatively easy, 
and the formation of such an ideal is the first s'tep towards its 
realization. 

A DECIDED ADVANTAGE. 

One correct ideal is more easily formed than several, and it 
is more clearly and constantly comprehended. 

A correct ideal should not be simply to possess some indefinite 
benefit. The breeder should not be like a child crying for the 
moon, but should be definite in outline and in accordance with 
the possibilities of the variety, an extension, enlargement or 
increase of existing merits. 

It should be impossible only in the sense that perfection is 
impossible, not in the sense that it is contrary to the natural 
development of the fowls, for an attempt to produce the impos- 
sible in this latter sense is clearly a waste of time and effort. 

With such a correct ideal as an ultimate goal, every effort 
counts, even if the goal is unattainable. 

And in the formation of a correct ideal the breeder of the 
single variety has the advantage over the breeder of Several 
varieties. 

His ideal stands out boldly in his mind, clear in outline point- 
ing in the direction of natural development, based on a through 
knowledge of the variety, and enabling him to avoid the humil- 
iat ; on which always waits upon misdirected efforts. 

A SIMPLE ILLUSTRATION. 

From time to time the introduction of fresh blood becomes 
desirable or necessary. To do this the breeder of several varie- 
ties, say five, for illustration, must do one of two things — either 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 55 

spend more money or be content with less valuable birds than 
the breeder of a single variety. 

A simple illustration: X, who breeds five varieties, and Y r 
who breeds but one variety, determines to enter fresh blood into 
their stock through the purchase of male birds. 

X must buy live males; Y needs to buy but one. 

If they both buy males' of the same quality, say, $25 each, 
X must spend $125 while Y spends but $25. Or, if they set apart 
but $25 each for this purpose, X can purchase $5 birds with his 
money, while Y can obtain a $25 bird with vastly greater chances 
of obtaining high-class property. 

In either event Y r , the breeder of a single variety, has 1 a decided 
advantage over X. 



FEEDING GROWING PULLETS. 

Giving too much food to poultry in a short space of time is a 
very bad habit. Notice their habits and you will perceive that 
the process of picking up their food under ordinary or natural 
conditions is a very slow one. 

Grain by grain is the meal taken, and in the aggregate no 
small amount of sand, pebbles and the like, all of which passes 
into the crop and assists digestion greatly. The common practice 
of feeding poultry in a great "heap" thrown down at one time 
and the birds are allowed to peg away at such a rate that their 
crop is filled too rapidly. The process of assimilation is then 
slow, painful and incomplete. 

DISEASES -PREVENTED. 

Many other diseases which affect chickens may be prevented by 
breeders if a little precaution is taken in the simple matter of 
feeding. 

There are a great many failures made in handling pullets. The 
common practice is to so feed as to induce early egg production, 
but there could not be a greater mistake made. 

The fancier who is depending upon pullets to supply eggs for 
hatching purposes to produce another season will make no such 
mistake. He realizes that he is handling breeders; that he must 
bring them to maturity in body and frame; that the breeding 
pullet must be so handled and fed that she will become a hen 
fully developed as to size, form and vigor. 



56 



The Wright Way; oe, Practical Hints 



EARLY MATURITY. 

There is a great deal written and said in favor of early maturity. 
In my experience I find that pullets that have matured more grad- 
ually and allowed to gain full size and strength of bone and body, 
and full plumage, before they begin to lay, will make better 
layers and breeders than if they are fed so strongly as to begin 
laying before they are fully grown; before she has her full 
growth of body, bone and plumage. 

Those who understand feed bone and body-forming foods that 
will grow size, strength and feathers, rather than to induce a too 
early egg production. 

FOOD SUPPLY. 

Now we arrive at the point where we must decide upon the 
food supply; the foods that will give to the pullets all that is 
required by growing stock in the making of bone and muscles, 
flesh, feathers' and blood. 

At the head of all desirable food for such stocks stands oats 
and wheat. I find that no other grain food is so rich in bone 
and muscle-making properties, and these grains are as necessary 
to the fancier's stock as is milk for the young calf. 

As a scratch food they are indispensable, but other foods are 
necessary, as we must supply all needs. Wheat, oats and other 
small grain found in all good commercial feeds are fed in a deep 
litter every morning and evening. 

This feeding should be light, or not enough to fully satisfy 
their appetites. 

About the middle of the day green, food should be given them. 

Water should be given them just as early as grain. When a 
chicken comes from its perch the first thing it seems to partake 
of, if it is handy, is a drink of water. 

CHARCOAL AND GRIT. 

Charcoal and grit should be kept before them all the time. Beef 
scraps should be given two or three times a week. 

The large producing hen is the results of unceasing efforts. 
Those who are not well acquainted with the poultry conditions 
as they exist to-day, do not appreciate the possibilities of the 
laying hen from a financial standpoint. 

Tli is is an age of large records. Scarcely a week passes that 
doos not herald the remarkable performances of some poultrv- 
tnan 's flock. 

The Laying hen is certainly a factor worthy of careful con- 
sideration, therefore, care for the growing pullets. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 59 

CARE Or BREEDING STOCK. 

There is a great difference of opinion regarding the proper way 
of feeding and management of breeds for all purposes, etc. First 
of all, their proper care and keeping is essential to success, for, 
while one may have what they consider the best breed, if they 
are not properly cared for, they will, in majority of cases, prove 
a. failure. I have seen many cases of gross neglect of fowls 
wherein the owner complained that his or her chickens' brought 
no returns for the money expended upon them. Experience has 
taught me that there is no money lost in keeping a few good 
fowls. On the contrary, . a great deal of pleasure and profit is 
derived from it. 

PROPER FOOD AND FEEDING. 

Natural conditions are the essential points to success. Never 
forget that where chickens' are in close confinement they are 
entirely dependent upon you, for such things as could easily be 
obtained if they were on a large, open range. Never stint poultry 
in the variety or quality of their food. Good food is positive 
economy. Fowls in close confinement should be fed three times 
a day. Morning and evening a good quality of commercial feed 
should be given them. This must be fed in a litter of hay or 
straw, about eight or ten inches' deep. When fed in this manner 
the fowl will have to work and scratch to find the grain, and the 
more they work and scartch the more exercise they will get, 
which is essential to their health and general well-being. 

GREEN FOOD 

Should be supplied for the noon-day meal and never overoloked, 
for it is one of the most important things to be considered when 
it comes to the feed question. There are many things that can 
be substituted for grass when there is none to be had. Sprouted 
oats is one of the best things that can be fed as green food. It 
is also very cheap and easily made, but when sprouted oats' are 
not to be had, or have not been prepared, cabbage, lettuce and 
mustard, or, in fact, most any garden vegetable may be given. 
All green food except sprouted oats should be chopped fine before 
being fed to the fowls. Grass clippings from the lawn should even 
be cut, as it is liable to cause a fowl to become crop bound on 
account of it being too long to allow it passing through the crop 
as it should. In chopping up the green food it is not only better 
for the chickens, but is much cheaper for the breeder, especially 
in winter when all vegetables are high and hard to get, for noth- 



60 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hixts 

ing is lost «as it is when a lot of food is thrown out in bulk and 
the chickens' can only get what they are able to pick off, leaving 
the rest to rot and decay and cause disease to spread through 
the flock. 

WET MASH. 

In the morning, twice a week, the grain should be omitteo 
and a mash feed consisting of a teacup of powdered charcoal, 
one pint of beef scraps, one quart of ground oats, one quart of 
sifted corn chops one quart of alfalfa meal and one quart of 
wheat bran, to which add one tablespoonful of table s»ale; mix 
thoroughly with hot water. This ought not to be made too moist, 
but just so it will crumble well in the hand. Eaw, lean meat is 
very fine food when it can be obtained without costing too much, 
and should be fed once a week at noon time, omitting the green 
food. Charcoal, cracked oyster shells and dry fresh wheat bran 
should be kept in hoppers before them all the time. Fowls fed 
regularly in this manner will keep your egg basket well filled. 

ONE REASON FOR WEAK CHICKENS. 

What is necessary to have strong healthy chicks? 

What are the best to breed from pullets or hens? 

The above questions are often asked me by visitors who visit 
my yards. My answer is that the first thing necessary to have 
strong healthy chicks is healthy parents. 

And that I get best results from breeders both male and female 
that are past one year old. The pullets having then reached 
maturity, the time of laying large eggs, are then fully developed 
and should be in better physical condition than earlier or later 
in life. 

That too many pullets that are not fully matured are being 
us'ed in the breeding pen, and that this is the cause of so many 
failures to hatch strong, healthy chicks, is in my opinion a posi- 
tive fact. 

I have many times expressed my opinion as to the cause of 
weak chickens, or at least one cause for them, and I am glad to 
have my opinion confirmed by such good authority as Professor 
W. A. Lippincott, as will be seen in the following from his pen, 
which I find in the New England Homestead. Poultry breeders 
will do well to remember the facts Professor Lippincott sets forth. 

He says: " There is 1 a common practice among farmers and 
fanciers which as much as any other is responsible for this state 
of affairs. It is brooding from pullets. It is a great temptation 
to do this. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 61 

"Everyone knows 1 that the pullet-laying year is the most profit- 
able year, as far as eggs are concerned. That this is so in itself 
points to lack of strength and staying power. 

"It is so, nevertheless, and it is the most natural thing in the 
world to set some of these pullet eggs and then sell the pullets as 
soon as her money-making days are over. This 1 is where trouble 
begins. 

' • A pullet lays a smaller egg than she will as a hen. The 
average weight of 100 White Leghorn hen's eggs, for instance, 
has been found to be 12.96 pounds, where 100 pullet eggs weighed 
on the average 11.19 pounds. 

k 4 A s 1 mall egg always gives a small chick when it hatches. A 
small chick may grow into a good sized chicken, but it doesn't 
have the show to do it that a chick of the same breed hatched 
from a larger egg does. 

"If you are going to have good stock of any kind, it is a 
pretty safe proposition to have it born right. If this is true of 
larger animals it is increasingly true of birds' which mature in a 
single season. " 

While I have no experimental data on this exact point, data 
taken from the West Virginia experiment station shows practi- 
cally the same thing. Where about 2,000 eggs were incubated the 
following results were obtained: 

Per cent, eggs' hatched, hens, 76.7 per cent.; pullets, 67.8 per 
cent. Average weight 100 at hatchings, hens, 8.28 pounds; pul- 
lets, 7.12 pounds. Average weight 100 at three to four weeks, 
hens, 29.56 pounds; pullets, 23.07 pounds'. Chicks dying before 
four weeks, hens, 5 per cent; pullets, 14.5 per cent. 

Because a pullet can lay a lot of eggs 1 that are perfect to the 
taste, it does not necessarily follow that she is fully developed 
enough to produce eggs that will hatch perfect chicks. 

Both experiments and experience have shown that the hatch 
ability of pullet eggs and the "livability " of the chicks after 
they are hatched are less than from the same individuals as 
yearling hens and 2-year-olds. 

When one breeds 1 from pullets he does not give natural selection 
a chance to help him out. We hear a good deal about the survival 
of the fittest. It works in the hen yard as well as anywhere else. 
A certain proportion of pullets stands up under the strain of 
heavy laying better than the rest. They may lay no more eggs 
during the spring and early summer. It is along July and August, 
when the thermometer registers 95 on the north side of the house, 
that the difference shows. 



62 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hixts 

They are still active and vigorous and still laying eggs clear 
up until they begin to molt. Their weaker sisters' begin to be a 
bit peevish when the hot weather comes on, and some of them die. 

We don't think much of it, partly because we are used to it, 
and partly because we feel that we have already secured a good 
profit on their winter's laying. 

The thing that should appeal to us is that there was a funda- 
mental weakness* present that caused them to break down; and, 
further, that we have a bunch of young stuff coming on, a good 
percentage of which have inherited the same hidden weakness. 

We have been using pullets as breeders without giving them a 
chance to die. The thing to do is to breed from none but the 
vigorous, fully matured hens, hens, that have stood up during the 
summer as" well as the winter. 

All the inferior ones, and none but these, should be marketed; 
by such practices the vigor of the flock can be increased and the 
complaints of inferior stock done away with. 

LINE BREEDING. 

This is a subject upon which we are receiving many inquiries. 
"Line breeding is in-breeding" some will answer, and so it is; 
but it is in -breeding with a purpose. The advantage is that by 
line breeding we restrict the number of ancestors an animal can 
throw back to. "Like will produce like or the likeness of some 
ancestor.' ' 

Let us take, as a concrete instance to illustrate the subject, the 
breeding of poultry. In doing this we may say at the outset that 
one of the disadvantages of line breeding is that people who know 
only that the dam is bred to her son, and the sire to his pulelts, 
practice it with disastrous results. The intelligent breeder will 
not undertake line breeding unless he has a bird with choice quali- 
ties which he wishes to reproduce. Tf he has many desirable 
qualities wrapped up in a single bird he is anxious to get as much 
of the blood of that bird as possible in his flock. With this in 
view he mates the bird wi A h as good a bird, better if possible, 
of the opposite sex. Much thought is given to this first mating, 
and the less of desirable qualities is headed by health or vigor. 
These birds must be desirable specimens of their breed and in 
vigorous health. The true fancier is in no hurry; he waits years 
for resul*s which satisfy him, but he gets them. 

The next step in the process of line breeding is to breed the 

besl of tiie daughters back to their sire, and the best of their 

a to the dam. Bnpi os i we take a pair of birds and call our 






For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 63 

cock X and the hen Y. The blood of their progeny will be equally 
mixed, half and half. If Y is mated to her best son their progeny 
will be three-fourths her blood and one-fourth the blood of X. 
The progeny of X's pullets mated to himself would be three- 
fourths his blood and one-fourth Y's\ Mate a three-fourths biood 
of Y's to a three-fourths blood of X's and you have half the 
blood of each of the original pair. Take these three-fourths 
blood pullets of X's and mate them back to X and you have 
progeny that are seven-eigths his blood. Progeny similarly 
mated to Y produces breeds that are likewise seven-eighths of 
her blood. xAnd so proceed till you reach a point where you have 
a male and female line of nearly the blood of Y, also a male and 
female line virtually the same blood as X, but keep the line of 
sires unbroken. Thus using always in a certain group of mating 
a sire in which the blood of the original sire predominates, and 
also a group of matings with the blood of the original hen pre- 
dominating, you can in time produce three distinct strains. 

If as much attention is given to health and vigor as to fancy 
qualities, stock from a plant where line breeding is understood 
and intelligently practiced, should be strongly prepotent, and 
having the power to transmit to their progeny their own good 
qualities. Line breeding can be, and frequently is, carried to a 
point where the flock is dwarfed and stunted, but our judgment is 
that in such cases no attention has been paid to breeding for 
health and stamina. 

We believe that farmers would be much benefited by following 
line breeding to a certain extent. Many farmers Send away for 
many cockrels each year paying a moderate price and express 
charges. If they would send to a breeder whose birds were not 
the result of chance matings, pay him what it usually costs to get 
such birds?, for two years, and mate them to the best of their 
flock, they could safely use them two years. Two $10 cockerels 
in two years will do the flock more good than four $5 cockerels 
in the same time. Providing always that the breeds 1 are of good 
value for the money. 

And let us say now, when you find a breeder who gives you 
good value for your money, stick to him. — EXCHANGE. 

SOME REASONS FOR FAILURES. 

In the poultry business as well as in any other, the man who . 
fails is often an unstable individual who does not know his own 
mind. He goes in for each and every variety he sees and soars 
to the skies for a while, and then lets it drop to take up some- 



64 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

thing new. This is a sure road to failure. Then, again, the 
man who fails is the beginner who imagines that he is going to 
make an enormous profit on a few chickens in a very short time, 
building castles in the air. A man must work hand in hand with 
the poultry business, for it takes practical methods and not "day 
dreaming M of Some glorious future to land success. 

LACK OF SYSTEM. 

The man who fails is often lacking in judgment. He may be 
thoroughly honest and a willing worker, and only too willing to 
do what there is to be done; but he does not know how to manage 
or to regulate a system. Therefore, he works harder than is 
necessary and retains no results. 

All Such persons are to be pitied. They imagine that it is 
only their bad luck, not- stopping to consider that it is neglect 
with bad judgment, and that they have failed to give the poultry 
business the study and attention that it deserves. There is not 
a business to-day in which the chances of Success are greater than 
poultry raising. Give it the same careful study and time that is 
necessary to give any other paying business and there will not be 
any question as? to which will pay you the best. 

THE PRACTICAL MAN. 

The practical man with a reasonable desire to make his chickens 
furnish him with what eggs and chickens he needs for his family 
use, and at the same time enable him to sell enough to pay for 
their feed and other expenses', usually succeeds far beyond his 
expectations. 

No matter how much money you invest in houses or how well 
you are situated, nor how good and up-to-date your fixtures may 
be, if you are not capable of contenting your mind with one or 
two breeds, and not always be changing, or to be satisfied with 
what is a reasonable profit or result, Success will never follow. 

Some of the most noted breeders there are, and the ones who 
have been the most successful, are the ones who have selected 
one or two breeds and stuck to them until they did Succeed. 
Take, for instance, FishePs, the White Kock and Wyandotte men; 
Lester Thompkins the "Rhode Island Red breeder, or Cook, the 
originator of the Orpington breed. These distinguished poultry- 
meu are noted for the purity of their stock and the great success 
they have achieved. 

The most common error made to-day by the novice is thinking 
that they ought to do in a few months what it has taken these 
men years to accomplish. 






For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 65 

Let the man or woman who wants to raise poultry for profit 
bear in mind that any one of fair ability and of average energy, 
who is honest with himself and others, and who will not make 
misleading statements, may win success in the poultry business 
the same as in any other. 

BUYER AND SELLER. 

Knowledge acquired by personal experience and observation is 
one of the most essential things about the poultry business. One 
of the greatest drawbacks of the business is the lack of congruity 
existing between the buyer and seller, each one fearing that the 
other fellow will get the best of the bargain. 

Dissatisfaction is often brought about by the buyer not know- 
ing the value of a good bird and expecting more than he is will- 
ing to pay for them. These individuals may be excused, as it is 
an experience almost every breeder has passed through when 
starting in the business before he really learned the value of 
pure-bred stock and the great worth of a good breeding fowl. 
Few beginners will consider the fact in buying poultry they are 
sure to get better quality for more money. 

POLITE TO CUSTOMERS. 

The breeder who takes no care in mating his birds and is satis- 
fied to produce only ordinary stock, is the man who causes the 
most dissatisfaction. 

The careful breeder who has good stock is polite to his cus- 
tomers and always willing to make good when something goes 
wrong with a sale he has made, has a hold on his customers for 
stock and eggs for hatching that brings 1 them back year after 
year, sometimes to get birds to fill out the breeding pens or for 
an exhibition bird when one is wanted. 

FULL VALUE. 

A breeder never loses a cent by trying to see that his customers 
get full value for their money. To the true and sincere poultry- 
man there is as much pleasure in learning of the results his cus- 
tomers obtain as there is in the profits he derives. Breeders of 
this' class very seldom, if ever, have misunderstanding with the 
buyer. 

Some poultrymen contend that it is impossible to please every. 
body, therefore, do not put themselves out to please any one, 
claiming that if one person don't buy another will. This kind of 
poultry breeders not only fail to get pleasure and profit out of 
the poultry business, but every other good thing in life. 



66 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

INTERTtLE EGGS. 

One of the most common complaints lodged against the breeder 
who makes a business of selling eggs for hatching is the non- 
fertility of eggs, a complaint well founded in some cases and un- 
called for in many, for while a breeder should guarantee his eggs 
and should not fail to make good when eggs that he has sold fails 
to give the buyer a fair percentage of chicks, the buyer should 
also be fair in judgment and always fully consider the rough 
way in which eggs are handled in shipping, the condition of the 
weather, the disposition of the hen or the ability of the man 
running the incubator. 

DO NOT MISREPRESENT. 

There is nothing that makes a poultryman feel prouder than 
to hear himself spoken of as a capable breeder and a responsible- 
business man, for these are the things that land success every 
time. 

Always be conscientious in every dealing, no matter how T s'mair 
the sale may be; never sell a bird for a breeder when you know 
absolutely that he is not fit for the purpose, simply because you 
have not the room and want to dispose of him. Things mis- 
represented in ever so small a way will always reflect on the 
quality of your stock and your own reputation. 

NO PROFIT IN CHEAP POULTRY. 

It never pays to buy anything cheap if you can afford to buy ' 
the best, or even second best. 

It may seem like economy in the first cost, but the first cost is - 
never all of the cost by any means, and anything cheap which is 
not of standard brand will not give the satisfaction that is found' 
in the real article. 

People frequently ask when entering the poultry business if it 
would not do just as well to get inexpensive chickens, even though 
they were not of a good breed to start with. My answer is this: 
It is useless to begin with poor stock. You will find after it is : 
too late and you have wasted time and money in common mixed 
C hie kens. 

Why should any person wish to fill their yards with an un- 
sightly mixture of scrub chickens picked up from any and every 
place that you know nothing of. 

Take a yard filled with any of the thoroughbred birds and to* 
fall in love with them it is only necessary to see them, and the 
desire .-it < nee assails them to own some of the same kind'.. 




Light Brahma Cock Bird. 
A Beauty. 



L 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 69 

It is a proven fact that thoroughbred chickens lay best and 
grow faster, and if you want to sell the eggs or chickens you can 
get a price for them in a poultry-loving place like the South; 
there is' no fear of not being able to get buyers for eggs or 
surplus stock. 

If you have the real thing all you have to do is to let people 
know that you have them. This you can easily do by advertising 
in some widely read daily paper containing a poultry department, 
or a first-class poultry journal. 

FITTING BIRDS FOR THE SHOW ROOM. 

When birds have reached the proper age, and you have selected 
those you think good enough to exhibit, place them in good, roomy 
training coops, similar to' an exhibition coop, about three feet 
above the floor, males and females separate. In this coop each 
bird may be daily trained in preparation for the show. A bird 
placed in the training coop is taught to stand up and by proper 
posing to show off his fine shape to advantage. The trainer may 
use a light stick, about i^-inch thick and two feet in length, to 
touch the bird and make him pose correctly. After a few lessons 
he should pose promptly on the approach of the trainer or any 
other person. This should be done at least two or three weeks 
before time for exhibition. Feed good, nourishing food, with 
plenty of green stuff, charcoal and grit. Each time you feed 
endeavor to tame them by handling and so prepare them for the 
show room. This is very important, as a timid, frightened bird 
is greatly handicapped when judging time comes. 

If the birds are white, or their plumage soiled, they should be 
washed a few days before time for shipment. To do this, prepare 
three tubs of water. Tub No. 1 should contain water as warm 
as can be comfortably borne by the hand; shave into this a cake 
of ivory soap, then put in the bird. Work the lather well into 
the feathers, down to the skin, always being careful to work with 
the feathers' and not against them. Feathers are easily broken, and 
breaking one of the main wing or tail feathers may mean the 
loss of a prize. Keep your left hand on the back of the fowl, so 
you can control it, and it will soon come to understand and will 
give up. Having gone over all the feathers well, wash the face 
and comb. Tub No. 2 should contain hike-warm water; into this 
now put the bird, holding firmly by each wing-bow, so it cannot 
struggle. Wash thoroughly in this tub until every particle of 
soap has been washed out. This is important, as soap left in the 
feathers causes them to stick together and curl so they will not 



70 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

plume when dry. Being satisfied that all the soap has been washed 
out in tub No. 2, now place the bird in tub No. 3, of cool water, 
to which has been added about as much blueing as would be used 
for clothes. After this, the bird is ready to be dried. Now press 
out some of the water and stand in a clean coop, in a warm place 
(85 to 90 degrees is not too hot) near a stove, and gradually move 
back as. the feathers dry. Occasionally raise the feathers with 
the hand and fan vigorously with a fan. When birds have been 
thoroughly dried, place in very clean dry coops, into which has 
been put clean dry straw or pine shavings. Be sure to have a 
perch in each coop. Three birds may be washed in same water, 
after which all three tubs should be refilled as at first. It is not 
necessary to wash black or parti-colored birds. Their plumage 
may be cleaned by sponging with warm water, then afterwards 
rubbed well with a dry silk cloth, on which has been dropped a 
small quantity of s'weet oil. 

When time to ship, go over the birds carefully and rub off with 
a cloth dampened with alcohol all spots or stains they may have 
acquired since washing, and having a small bottle of half alcohol 
and half olive or sweet oil, dampen a small suonge and go over 
their legs, feet, comb and bill, being careful to get none on the 
feathers. 

If the birds' are white, you may carefully pull (dont break) all 
black or black-ticked feathers, except main wing and tail feathers. 
Tf these latter are pulled the bird will be scored against just as? 
heavily as if left in. A white bird having an inch or more of black 
on main wing or tail feather, had better be left at home. Have the 
birds placed in single coops, or single compartments of the same 
coop, having the coops high enough not to cramp them. — H. C. 
HASKINS. 

WHAT IS UTILITY CHICKENS? 

In every hatch, large or s'mall, from the oldest strain and the 
best birds used in America, there will be chickens with some 
slight defect. Sometimes it happens that a bird is as fine a speci- 
men as there is in the poultry yards, but there is a white feather 
or Several of them where there should have been red feathers. 

Then, again, perfect except a feather on the leg, or a twist, 
or a lump on the comb, or a slipped wing, or wiry tail, or a hun- 
dred other small imperfections that make the bird unfit for show 
purposes, but it is from the same parents and full brother or 
sister to the bird that goes out of the show with a blue ribbon, 
and thereby enhance his or her value many times'. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 71 

FREQUENTLY GIVES SPLENDID RESULTS. 

These birds will not do to breed from by a poultryman, because 
he is after, as nearly possible, mating up his birds so as to pro- 
duce birds that will conform to the rules laid down in the "Amer- 
ican Standard of Perfection, " in which every bird is described so 
perfectly that no one has ever attained to it. 

Frequently a breeder uses these slightly defective birds with 
■splendid results. 

For instance, in making up his breeding pens he finds a hen 
from a long line of almost perfect parentage that has 1 a defect in 
her comb. 

He also has a cock bird that has a perfect comb, and so, where 
one is weak and the other is strong, he often gets the best results 
from Such a mating. 

It sometimes happens that utility birds produce equally as per- 
fect birds as those of the same blood that are mated for show 
purposes, but they are not apt to do this, and the breeder cannot 
afford to take any chances, but when it comes to egg production 
or breeding fowls for market they are equal to any blue ribbon 
chickens of the same strain. 

ACCIDENTS IN THE POULTRY YARD. 

Accidents' will happen to our poultry, and it is often the best 
in the flock that are affected. 

There are dangers in the barb of the wire fence, in the broken 
Tjottle behind the barn, the tools of the place that are left scat- 
tered around, and also in the fighting blood of some of our show 
males. 

Seldom a season passes without a badly torn comb or wattle, 
or a deep cut in the flesh of one of the breeders. 

Taken early you can repair the damage so as 1 to have left a 
fairly presentable bird. 

Cuts and tears need to be cleaned with a milky mixture of 
warm water and sulpho-napthol, or any other good remedy on the 
market, of which there are many possessing merit. 

Clean out the dirt and kill the germ life. 

With white fine silk and fine needle sew the parts together; 
make each stitch by itself. 

Do not try to run the silk from stitch to stitch, but make one 
complete stitch, cut your silk and make another. 

When the parts are brought together by the needle and silk, 
and blood has stopped running, cover the line of the cut with 
"new skin M or collodion. 



72 The Weight Way: or, Practical Hixts 

"New skin" is a drug that may be bad at any drug store and 
will be found one of the best things of the kind to have handy y 
whether to be used for man or beast. 

It is* put up in bottles from 10 cents up to a dollar. 

You will find your first attempt to use the needle and silk some- 
what a queer proceeding, as it is no easy thing to tie the knot 
that will hold and yet not be too tight. 

Work with clean hands, new silk, if possible, and a needle that 
has been just held in the flames of a match. 

Common cotton thread will answer, but it is 4 not so harmles 
the tissues you sew. . 

If along the line of a cut pus begins to form, bathe with full 
strength hydrogen peroxide. 

This will foam, will penetrate the cut and destroy much of the 
germ life in the wound. 

Whenever the line of the cut seems to be healed you should cut 
with a fine-pointed scissors each stitch and pull out of the flesh. 

A little knowledge of these matters is needed by the owner 
of valuable birds as well as animals. 

It does not hurt to practice upon common stock, when injured, 
if only to acquire the experience that will come in handy when 
you have a valuable bird injured. 

The poultryman of to-day will have a handy medic hie kit 
ready for emergencies, particularly if he is any distance removed 
from cities' where the necessary remedies and drugs are procurable. 

It is well to guard ahead, and in many instances it means the 
saving of a bird whose value runs us into many dollars. 

MOLTING. 

Properly speaking, this is not a disease, but a normal process 
through which the fowls pass without difficulty. 

The natural period of molt will average to occupy 100 days. 
and fowls vary as to the time of commencing from early in June 
to the latter part of October, and some molt even later than this. 

While 100 days is given as about the average time of molting, 
some hens molt quicker than others. 

The time of hatching has very little to do with the time of 
molting. 

At the Cornell (N. Y.) station, where a close study was made 
of the hen during the molt, it was found that, while some hens 
laid some eggs during a portion of the molt, they ceased before 
or immediately after regaining their full plumage. 




One of My Light Brahma Hens. 
Weight, io^ Pounds. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 75 

We have read this bulletin carefully and noted the rations fed. 
the egg records, etc., and it set us to wondering why it is neces- 
sary for the hen to cease laying during the molt. 

{Some tell us that molting is a great strain on the hen, but 
it is a natural process, and we do not remember that we ever 
lost a hen from the effect of the molt. 

It is a strain on them only when they fail to find a sufficient 
quantity of the right elements in the food supplied to them. 

They are not able to eat a sufficient quantity of food to secure 
the right elements. 

When the farm horse renews its coat of hair it is generally 
during the period of its hardest labor, and we say a horse is doing 
well when it sheds its hair liberally. 

This is the case with fowls. 

Those that drop their feathers all at once seem to do better 
than those which shed slowly. 

If we could supply exactly the right elements in the hen's feed 
we might induce her to lay during or immediately after the molt. 

This is what poultry keepers have been trying to do, furnish 
material for the growth of feathers, and in doing this they have 
increased the protein content of their rations. 

This was good so far as it went, but there is far more ash than 
protein in feathers. 

Protein is necessary for their growth, but ash is more necessary, 
and it must be in liberal supply at this time. 

Naturalists tell us that the material for the formation of 
feathers comes from the earth and are in the nature of salts and 
flints. 

Just what form these elements can be served in has not been 
determined. 

If the right elements can be given the hen in the form she can 
asimilate the right quantity without overeating, there will be no 
more drain on the constitution than during other periods of her 
existence. 

Molting tonics' and feeds are advertised which are claimed to 
aid the hen in molt quickly and to get to laying, but we are 
looking for something better than this. 

We want a feed that will bring some eggs during the great 
portion of the molt and that will aid the hen to molt quickly. 

This ration must be rich in protein and fat, easily digested, so 
the hen can handle a large quantity. 



76 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

COMMON CHICKEN MITES. 

The worst external parasite against which poultrymen and 
farmer have to contend is the " common chicken mite" or "red 
chicken mite.'' 

There are other species' of mites which attack poultry, but they 
do much less damage. 

This blood-thirsty little pest causes great loss to the poultry 
industry of the country by killing adult fowls and little chicks 
and cutting down egg production. 

The adult female mite lays her eggs', which are elliptical in 
shape and about 1-100 of an inch in length, in the cracks and 
crevices, of the roosts, walls, nests or boxes, usually where there is 
manure or other filth. 

Under favorable conditions the eggs' will hatch in a few days, 
when the young mites are white, oval in shape and have but 
six legs. 

They feed for a few days upon filth, but attack fowls when 
older. 

Every few days the young mite molts or sheds its skin and 
increases in size, becoming full grown in about ten days from 
birth. 

When you see your little chicks looking sleepy from no apparent 
cause, and from all your efforts do not seem to thrive and do well, 
you can rest assured that their lives are being sapped out of them 
by lice or mites. 

KEEP INSECTS IN CHECK. 

When a hen is removed from the nest you should, by all means, 
use a small amount of lard or vaseline on the head and under the 
throat of each little chick. 

Some of this should also be applied under the wings and the 
body of the old hens. 

This will keep the insects in check so that the little chicks can 
get a start in life. 

If this is not done before you know it they will be weakened to 
such an extent that they will scarcely ever get over it. 

1 have seen but few chickens in all my life that were left 
entirely alone that did not have more or less lice on them, and 
you need not think they are not there. 

If you will examine the top of the heads of the little chicks that 
have been hovered by hens you will find the top of their heads a 
solid mass of white nits. 

These should be thoroughly greased, which will kill every one 
of them. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 77 

If left alone they will make thousands of lice that will torture 
the lives of the little chicks, and it should not be neglected. 

By taking one teaspoonful of plain lard and adding five drops 
of turpentine and ten drops of insurance oil, it makes something 
that certainly will remove insects of all kinds. 

You should be very careful how to use it, as I have seen so many 
chicks killed by it, simply from ignorance. 

If you have mites in the boxes or houses where the little chicks 
roost at night, you can get rid of them by spraying or sprinkling 
with a strong solution of crude carbolic acid or any of the other 
antiseptic preparations if used strong enough. 

This should be done in the morning; it will be sufficiently dry by 
night that it will not injure the little chicks. 

These items cannot be overlooked and must be attended to if 
you expect to raise a large per cent of May and June hatched 
chicks. 

ANATOMY OF AN EGG. 

THE OVARIUM. 

In a laying hen, M. Yiele, an eminent anatomist of France, fays 
may be found, on opening the body, what is termed the ovarium — ■ 
a cluster of rudimental eggs, of different sizes, from very minute 
points up to shapes of easily-distinguished forms. 

These rudimental eggs have as yet no shell or white, these 
being exhibited in a different stage of development, but consist 
wholly of yolk, on the surface of which the germ of the future 
chicken lies. 

THE RUDIMENTAL EGG. 

When the rudimental egg, still attached to the ovarium, becomes 
longer and larger, and arrives at a certain size, either its own 
weight or some other efficient cause, detaches it from the cluster 
and makes it fall into a sort of funnel, leading to a pipe, which 
is called the oviduct. Here the yolk of the egg, hitherto imper- 
fectly formed, puts on its mature appearance of a thick yellow 
fluid, while the rudimental chick or embryo, lying on the surface 
opposite to that by which it had been attached to the ovarium, is 
white, and somewhat like paste. 

ALBUMEN OF THE EGG. 

The white, or albumen of the egg, now becomes diffused around 
the yolk, being secreted from the blood vessels of the egg-pipe, 
or oviduct in the form of a thin, glassy fluid; this is prevented 



78 



The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 



from mixing with the yolk and the embryo chicken by the thin 
membrane which Surrounded them before they were detached from 
the egg-cluster, while it is strengthened by a second and stronger 
membrane formed around the first immediately after falling into- 
the oviduct. 

This second membrane, enveloping the yolk of the germ of the 
chicken, is thickest at the two ends, having what is termed bulg- 
ings by some and chalazes by anatomists. These bulgings of the 
second membrane pass quite through the white at the ends, and 
being thus, as it were, embedded in the white, they keep the 
inclosed yolk and germ somewhat in a fixed position preventing 
them from rolling about within the egg when it is moved. 

The white of the egg being thus formed, a third membrane, or r 
rather, a double membrane much stronger than either of the first 
two, is formed around it, becoming attached to the chalazes of the 
second membrane, and tending still more to keep all the parts in 
their relative positions. 

PROGRESS OF THE FORMATION. 

During the progress of these several formations the egg grad- 
ually advances about half way along the oviduct. 

It is still, however, destitute of the shell, which begins to be 
formed by a process similar to the formation of the shell of a 
snail, as soon as the outer layer of the third membrane has been 
complete. 

When the shell is fully formed the egg continues to advance 
along the oviduct till the hen goes to her nest and lays it. 

From ill health, or accident, eggs are sometimes excluded from 
the oviducts before the shell has begun to be formed, and in this • 
state they are called wind eggs. 

THE EGG HAS SIX DIFFERENT ENVELOPES. 

Reckoning, then, from the shell inward, there are six different 
envelopes, of which one only could be detected before the descent 
of the egg into the oviduct — the shell; the external of the mem- 
brane lining the shell; the internal layer of the same lining; the 
white, composed of a thinner liquid on the outside, and a thicker 
and more yellowish liquid on the inside; the bulging, or chalazif- 
erous membrane; and the proper membrane. 

THE AIR-BAG. 

One important part of the egg is the air-bag, placed at the 
larger end, between the shell and its lining membrane. 

This is about the size of the eye of a small bird in new-laid 






For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 79 

eggs, but is increased as' much as ten or twelve times in the pro- 
cess of hatching. 

The air-bag is of such great importance to the development of 
the chicken — probably by supplying it with a limited atmosphere 
of oxygen — that, if the blunt end of an egg be pierced with the 
point of the smallest needle the egg cannot be hatched. 

DOUBLE-YOLKED EGGS. 

Instead of one rudiment al egg falling from the ovarium two 
may be detached, and will, of course, be inclosed in the same shell, 
w T hen the egg will be double-yolked. 

The eggs of a goose have, in some instances, been known to 
contain even three yolks. 

If the double-yolked eggs be hatched they will rarely produce 
two separate chickens, but, more commonly, monstrosities — chick- 
ens with two heads, four legs and the like. 

SHELL OF THE EGG. 

The shell of the egg y chemically speaking, consists chiefly of 

carbonate of lime, similar to chalk, with a small quantity of 
phosphate of lime and animal mucus. 

When burned the animal matter and the carbonic acid gas of 

the carbonate of lime are separated; the first being reduced to 
ashes, or animal charcoal, while the second is dissipated, leaving 
the decarbonized lime mixed with a little phosphate of lime. 

WHITE OF THE EGG. 

The white of the egg is without taste or smell, of a viscid, glairy 
consistence, readily dissolving in water, coagulable by acids' by 
spirits of wine and by a temperature 165 degrees Fahrenheit. 

If it has once been coagulated it is no longer soluble in either 
cold or hot water, and acquires a slight insipid taste. 

It is composed of 80 parts of water, 15% parts albumen and 4i^ 
parts mucus; besides giving traces of soda, benzoic acid and sul- 
phureted hydrogen gas. 

The latter, on an egg eaten from a silver spoon, stains the spoon 
a blackish purple by combining with the silver and forming sul- 
phuret of silver. 

The white of the egg is a very feeble conductor of heat, retard- 
ing its escape, and preventing its entrance to the yolk; a provi- 
dential contrivance not merely to prevent speedy fermentation and 
corruption, but to arrest the fatal chills which might occur in 
hatching, when the mother hen leaves her eggs, from time to time, 
in search of food. 



80 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

Eels and other fish which can live out of water secrete a similar 
viscid substance on the surface of their bodies furnished- to them, 
doubtless, for the same purpose. 

YOLK OF THE EGG. 

The yolk has an insipid, bland, oily taste, and when agitated 
with water forms a milky emulsion. 

If it is long boiled it becomes a granular, friable solid, yielding 
upon expression a yellow, insipid fixed oil. 

It consists, chemically, of water, oil, albumen and gelatine. 

In proportion to the quantity of albumen the egg boils hard. 

WEIGHT OF EGGS. 

The weight of the eggs of the domestic fowl varies materially; 
in some breeds averaging 33 ounces per dozen while in others but 
14:]/ 2 ounces. 

A fair average weight for a dozen is 22*^ ounces. 

Yellow, mahogany and salmon-colored eggs are generally richer 
than white ones, containing, as they do, a large quantity of yolk. 

These are generally preferred for culinary purposes while the 
latter, containing an excess of albumen, are preferred for boiling, 
etc., for the table. 

REQUIRED TIME FOR EGGS TO HATCH. 

Chickens 21 days 

Ducks 28 days 

Turkeys 28 days 

Geese 28 to 30 days 

Ostriches 42 days 

Peafowls 28 days 

Swans' 42 days 

Canary birds 14 days 

Pigeons 17 days 

Partridges. 14 days 

Guinea fowl . . 25 days 

CAUSES AND EFFECTS. 

Wet weather — pip. 
Filthy houses — lice. 
.Musty food — canker. 
Overfeeding — apoplexy, 
[mpure water— cholera. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 81 

High roosts — bumble foot. 

Breeding in — consumption. 

Damp quarters — diarrhoea, 

High feeding — leg weakness. 

Close confinement — debility. 

Drafts in the hennery — roup. 

Want of exercise — black rot. 

Exposure to cold — rheumatism. 

Unwholesome diet — indigestion. 

Disease is a most difficult thing to wrestle with in poultry. 

It is far easier to prevent than it is to combat when it obtains 
a foothold. 

The classification of diseases is at best but mere generalization. 

Each disease is named as well as may be, and the best known 
remedy prescribed, and it may be administered as a rule with 
great effect in the saving of poultry. 

Yet an intelligent study of the symptoms of the affected fowls 
and comparison of them with those of the different medicines will 
greatly aid in the work. 

I do not intend to go into details of the variuos poultry diseases, 
but to consider the cause of some of the most common ones. 

Contagious disease, such as roupe, cholera, chickenpox, etc., 
must have a starting point, and unless removed will cause much 
trouble. 

To prevent disease* our aim should be to look well after the 
removal of all sources at which it germinates and multiplies, 
which would include filth, dampness, improper ventilation and 
improper feeding, droppings, straw litter of any kind and parasites, 
all of which breed contagious diseases. This should all be removed 
as it contaminates the general surrounding of your chickens. 

Proper sanitary measures applied will destroy any germ that 
might be lurking around. 

MY OWN METHOD. 

I will state in as plain a manner as possible my method of keep- 
ing a yard in a sanitary condition. 

It may at first seem difficult and tedious, but once you acquire 
this system you will find it far easier than to combat with the 
different diseases that poultry is subject to. 

The dropping board must be cleaned every morning and must 
also have a coat of kreso once a month. 

All nest material burned and new replaced once every month. 



82 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

The litter used for scratching purposes should be changed every 
month. 

The henhouse must be whitewashed, the wash having four ounces 
of pure carbolic acid to the gallon added, and every nook and 
corner given its share of attention. This should be done in the 
months of May, September and January. 

If poultry be confined in Small yards, the yards must be cleaned 
once a day to remove the droppings and other filth. 

The water supply must be fresh and clean, the feeding troughs 
scalded, and last but not least, the feed we intend for them to eat 
kept clean and wholesome. 

It behooves us to place in their reach such suitable material as 
will keep the whole digestive tract in operation. 

Green food should be given; it is a stimulant. 

Charcoal is a purifier; it stimulates digestion and removes impu- 
rities from the fowl's system that otherwise would develop disease. 

These things are conducive to good health and productiveness 1 . 

There are a number of different diseases, but in all of them the 
above rules will work out. 

Follow my instructions, use sanitary methods, and success will be 
yours. 

SPROUTED OATS AS GREEN FOOD. 

Sprouted oats as green food has proved its Value and has steadily 
grown in favor until there is not a large or modern poultry plant 
in the United States that is not using sprouted oats. Especially 
are they essential to the back yard breeder who has a limited 
space for his fowls, and where green food is not accessible at 
all times. 

We all know that both young and old chickens, to do their best, 
should have a certain amount of green food. It is absolutely 
necessary to keep their systems in good healthy condition. 

Precaution should be used, however, when sprouting oats in 
summer, for unless they are kept in a shady place and also kept 
well drained, they will become moldy and prove very injurious 
to the fowls. 

The sprouting of oats has always been considered a labor in 
itself on account of the way in which it has been handled. Gen- 
erally (i : sprouted oats' ' stories advise about twice as much work 
as is really necessary for the good of the product. 

First, the selecting of the oats should be considered. New heavy 
oats should be used and they should be planted at intervals so as 
to keep some on hand at all times. This is, of course, according to 
the number of fowls to be fed. 




Light Brahma Cockerel. 
Weight, io^> Pounds. 



L 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 85 

I have found the easiest and cheapest way to sprout oats is to 
use ordinary boxes, such as can be had at the corner grocery. The 
diameter of the box has nothing to do with the oats, but one should 
be careful not to have the depth more than six to eight inches. 

Perforated bottoms are essential. The boxes should be kept in 
warm, shady places, set on four bricks, allowing air to pass 
beneath. This slight elevation forms a drain and keeps the oats 
from becoming sour or moldy at the bottom. 

After the seed oats have been well soaked in very warm water 
overnight, spread smoothly so as to cover the bottom of the boxes 
to a depth of about one inch. No soil is used and when the oats 
sprout and grow to a height of about three inches, the entire 
contents of the box may be used. 

Cover the boxes well with burlaps, water them thoroughly every 
morning, and when the oats reach a height of one inch the burlaps 
which have heretofore been covering them and which have been 
folded to about two or four ply, is removed and a wooden cover 
made of some light material is used instead. 

When ready to feed, cut in pieces about the size of a brick. 
roots and all, and one brick is sufficient for six hens and one male. 
If this is carried on in a systematic manner, green food will be 
plentiful at all times. One must necessarily take into considera- 
tion, however, the number of fowls to be fed, the time it takes for 
the oats to grow to the desired height, the room it will take, etc. 

This is a simple way of keeping green food and eliminates all 
the trouble which it took formerly to keep this excellent food on 
hand. It is a better egg producer and very much cheaper than 
any vegetable on the market. It answers the purpose of the back 
yard breeder better than anything he can handle. 

POULTRY MANURE WORTH SAVING-PRE- 
SERVATIVES, HOWEVER, NEEDED. 

Fresh poultry manure has approximately twice the fertilizing 
value of cattle manure, if a comparison of the two products is 
based upon their nitrogen content. The nitrogenous compounds 
contained in poultry manure, however, are very unstable and de- 
compose readily into ammonia and volatile ammonius compounds. 
Consequently, unless proper care is taken, large quantities of 
nitrogen, which might be used for fertilizing, are lost. 

Several methods' have been suggested for retaining this nitrogen. 
They consist in mixing with the excrement either an absorbing 
substance or an acid compound which will chemically combine 
with the ammonia as fats are formed. 



86 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

Experience has shown that poultry manure, untreated, as well 
as that mixed with sawdust, lost half of its nitrogen in the course 
of six months. Where the manure was stored with half of its 
weight of gypsum (land plaster) it lost a third, while that mixed 
with an equal weight of gypsum and about one-fifth of its weight 
of sawdust retained all of the original nitrogen. Equally good 
results were obtained by using from one-third to one-fourth of 
the weight of the manure of either kainite or acid phosphate. 

From the standpoint of the mechanical condition, the mixture 
with land plaster gives the least desirable product, although the 
addition of sawdust aids materially in preventing the formation 
of hard cakes. 

When the manure is to be kept only a few days before apply- 
ing, good results may be obtained with dry loam or peat as an 
absorbent. 

The absorbent used should be sprinkled daily, in the required 
quantity, on the floor of the henhouse; from which, in combination 
with the excrement, it may be removed when desired. 

The difficulties experienced in spreading poultry manure on 
account of its sticky consistency, may be obviated by mixing 
with loam, peat or common stable manure. For economical use 
it should be spread in relatively smaller amounts than other 
manures. 

The admixture of lime or wood ashes is not advised, since 
decomposition is sufficiently rapid without their use. 

It should be borne in mind that each of the absorbents sug- 
gested is in itself of value as a fertilizer; the least valuable being 
sawdust. Consequently, the requirements' of the soil should 
govern to some extent the choice of the absorbent used. 

KEEP POULTRY RECORD. 

One of the greatest needs of most poultry keepers is a definite 
record of expenditures and receipts. 

In too few cases does the owner of a poultry flock actually 
know whether his fowls have been an expense to him or have 
paid a profit. 

This is perhaps truer in regard to poultry than with most other 
branches of animal industry, because of the fact that both ex- 
penditures and receipts are spread over the entire year and are 
individually small; that a large part of the product is used at 
home, and that the poultry keeping is incidental to the other 
farm work. 

Have a note book and use it. 

Keep a record of expenditures and receipts. 




One of My Light Brahma Pullets. 
Weight, Eight Pounds. 



L 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 89 

EGG TESTS. 

A good egg will sink in water. 

Stale eggs are glassy and smooth of shell. 

A fresh egg has a lime-like surface to its shell. 

The boiled eggs which adhere to the shell are fresh laid. 

Eggs packed in bran for a long time smell and taste musty. 

After an egg has laid a day or more the shell comes off easily 
when boiled. 

Thin shells are caused by a lack of gravel, etc., among the hens 
laying. 

A boiled egg which is done will dry quickly on the shell when 
taken from the kettle. 

Eggs which have been packed in lime look stained and show 
the action of the lime on the surface. 

If an egg is clean and golden in appearance when held to the 
light it is good; if dark or spotted it is bad. 

The badness of an egg can sometimes be told by shaking near 
the holder's ear, but the test is a dangerous one. 

With the aid of the hands, a piece of paper rolled in funnel 
shape and held toward the light, the human eye can look through 
an egg, shell and all. 

DISEASES OF POULTRY. 

Administering medicine too often is a profitless expense. There 
is little economy in an attempt to doctor sick fowls; as a labor 
of love and a matter of humanity, the case may be different, and 
we often like to cure or lessen the sufferings of a favorite. The 
following symptoms of the different diseases will perhaps help in 
the prompt detection of the difficulty or disease which is troubling 
a fowl, with remedies for the same, in the hope that, should 
occasion require, benefit may be derived therefrom. 

APOPLEXY. 

The bursting of a blood vessel in the head. The bird staggers 
and falls; its breath comes heavy and short. The sudden pressure 
of the blood in the brain prostrates the fowl and it is insensible 
or dead, lying on its side with comb and wattles purple in hue. 
The cause may result from any number of conditions, including 
straining in running or in laying, overheated or gorging with 
food. Incurable. 



90 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

BLACK ROT. 

The symptoms of this disease are blackening of the comb, resem- 
bling mortification, swelling of the legs and feet, and general 
wasting of system. It can only be cured in the earlier stages' by 
frequent doses of castor-oil, to keep up purging; at the same time 
giving freely warm and nourishing food. Bad food and unhealthy 
surroundings, seem to be the cause. 

BREAK DOWN. 

Abdomen hangs down at rear from excess 1 of fat, fatty degen- 
eration or disorder of the oviduct. The muscles of the abdomen 
becomes so weakened that it hangs down behind; the best plan, 
if in good flesh, is to use the fowl for the table. Take warning 
and feed the rest of the flock less starchy and fatty foods. 

BUMBLE FOOT. 

It is often the result of high roost, the feet being injured when 
jumping therefrom. Imbedding of pebble in sole of foot. The 
hurt part swells, becomes inflamed, pus forms; it should, as soon 
as it softens", be cut open. See that no pus remains in it, then 
wash clean, in a lotion of one part Calendula tincture to five parts 
water, and bind up foot as 1 neatly as possible and keep bandage 
wet with the lotion; keep the fowl on clean straw. 

CANKER. p 

Due to colds, catarrh, roup, exposure to cold, dampness, drafts, 
foulness and dirty food. White or yellow patches on the mem- 
brane lining of the mouth or throat, which makes swallowing 
difficult. The treatment is to dip a feather in tincture of iron 
and apply to patches morning and evening. Yards and houses 
should be kept in a sanitary condition. 

CHICKEN POX. 

It is known by yellowish pimples on the head, comb and wat- 
tles, loss of sight, weakness, paleness. From close observation I 
have learned that this disease usually makes its appearance in the 
summer, during the rainy season. The hot sunshine coming out 
after a shower causes a hot vapor to arise from the earth which 
seems to cause the blood of the fowl to become overheated. About 
the best remedy I have tried is kreso and lard, equal parts. First, 
remove the scabs, this leaves a bright red tissue exposed, which 
will bleed, then apply the remedy; this will dry up the sore. 
When it appears in a flock there is no necessity for isolating the 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 91 

birds. A good way to check the severities of the disease is to put 
a tablet of permanganate of potash in the drinking water. A one- 
grain tablet to one gallon of water is sufficient. 

CHOLERA. 

At the present day the word "cholera" is applied to an epidemic 
which, while varying somewhat in different parts of the country, 
is always accompanied by violent diarrhoea. Cause mostly from 
dirty surroundings and filthy water. Very contagious. The 
symptoms include looseness 1 of the bowels, yellow Or greenish dis- 
charge, drooping wings, contracted neck, weakness, drowsiness, 
great thirst, comb becomes dark, exhaustion and speedy death. 
The rapid form is fatal in one or two days'. Chronic cholera may 
last in a flock several weeks. Destroy the birds and the conta- 
gion. The yards, runs and houses should be sprayed thoroughly 
with a good disinfectant. 

CONSUMPTION. 

There is a cough, the fowl seems to eat well, yet becomes 
emaciated. The breathing may be somewhat rasping and there is 
a paleness of the comb and wattles. Cause, bad heredity or re- 
sulting from a cold which is allowed to run on without care. 
"Incurable" is the general verdict. 

CROP BOUND. 

Impaction and enlargement of the crop from gorging or stopping. 
If the crop feels hard and stone-like to the touch, it will be neces- 
sary to make and incision with a sharp knife through the skin and 
upper part of the crop and loosen the packed mass with a blunt 
instrument, and remove it. Close the incision by taking a stitch 
or two. The bird should then be fed warm, soft food for two or 
three days, such as mashed boiled potatoes, and etc. Give them 
plenty of exercise in the open air and they will rapidly recover 
from the disease. There are other remedies, but the above has 
proven beneficial and I have never lost a fowl when taken in time 
and the disease not allowed to go too far. 

DIARRHOEA. 

Looseness of the bowels. The cause is damp, cold weather; 
cold on the stomach; brooding in damp, cold houses; poor and 
irregular feeding and filthy drink. The following is an excellent 
remedy. Give sick fowls a teaspoonful of castor oil containing 
from three to iive drops of turpentine; also with this ten grains 
sulphate of iron (copperas) should be dissolved daily in one 



92 



The Weight Way; or, Peactical Hints 



gallon of drinking water and kept before them. Charcoal and 
grit should be kept before them always. The houses should be 
kept clean and dry. Feed well-balanced rations. 

EGG BOUND. 

To relieve a hen that is egg-bound take a common tail feather 
of the hen and strip it until near the tip, and then dip it in sweet 
oil, and let it remain until it becomes' thoroughly saturated, then 
pass the feather up the egg passage till it meets the egg, which 
you will find will relieve the hen at once and enable her to proceed 
with her duties. If she experience any further difficulty, repeat 
the operation, getting the feather well filled with oil whenever 
you make an application. Do not attempt to help nature in the 
way of pressure, for in that case the egg may become broken and 
prove fatal to the hen. After you have made the application, as 
directed, let nature take its course. 

EGG EATING. 

Egg eating is a vice and not a disease. The best remedy is to 
try and catch the ring leader and kill her; there is usually no 
further trouble. Provide plenty of nest material, plenty of ground 
oyster shells. The cause of this vice is probably a craving for 
more lime and is usually started by one or two hens. 

FEATHER EATING. 

To prevent fowls eating their feathers give them animal food, 
such as fresh meat, two or tnree times a week; burnt bones, 
oyster shells, charcoal, together with clean fresh water and strictly 
sanitary yards and houses. If this does' not produce the desired 
effect, wring their necks, for nothing else will prove a cure. 

GAPS. 

Due to irritation of the windpipe by parasites. It chiefly 
attacks young fowls before their feathers have grown. The gen- 
eral symptoms of the disease, and those most noticeable, are the 
continual gaping, coughing, dullness, inactivity, loss of appetite 
and sneezing of the fowls attacked. It is due to the presence of 
a small red worm in the windpipe. Whether this worm is bred 
without the chick, or is a spontaneous generation resulting from 
physical causes, is an open question. Among the more popular 
external treatments may be mentioned the taking of a small 
feather, stripping it, except at the point, dipping it in turpentine 
or kerosene and running it down the throat, after having bent 
the feathered part over so that it will go down with the grain 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 93 

of the feather. There are many other treatments recommended by 
various authorities, such as flour of sulphur, crude camphor, etc., 
but the trouble with them all is that there is always danger of 
killing the chick along with the worm. 

LEG WEAKNESS. 

Staggering gait, napping of wings to aid in walking, moving 
along on the hocks, sitting down to eat. This' disease occurs in 
highly-fed, fast-growing chickens. Brooder chicks may show this 
sometimes* because of the warm floors or poorly-balanced rations. 
Injuries to the limb or rheumatism may account for the difficulty 
in some cases. Give them animal food once a day; also give them 
every day three or four grains of ammonico-citrate or iron dis- 
solved in water and mixed with soft feed. Eub the joints 
frequently and fully with a solution of equal parts of arnica and 
water. Keep from the wet grass. 

LICE. 

There is only one remedy for lice, and that is work. It is a 
case of "eternal vigilance is 1 the price of peace." The houses 
should be thoroughly sprayed with whitewash; to each gallon add 
four ounces of carbolic acid. This should be done as often as 
possible. Each and every fowl should be dusted with a good 
quality of. lice powder, once every week. The easiest way is to 
prevent their getting a start, and, as with many poultry diseases, 
prevention is far better than a cure. 

PIP. 

The pip is occasioned by the forming of a dry, horny scale upon 
the tongue, due to breathing through the mouth because of other 
diseases. The beak becomes' yellow at the base, the plumage 
becomes ruffled, the bird mopes and pines, the appetite gradually 
declines to extinction, and at length it dies, completely worn out 
by fever and starvation. Cause, improper feeding, dampness, 
filthy and poorly ventilated houses. Stop all grain feed for a 
short time, but you can give it a little boiled mashed potato, 
mixed well with butter and black pepper. If the fowl will not 
eat, make a pill of this, and force the fowl to swallow it. Also 
give five grains of quinine for grown fowls, and less according 
to size of chickens. 

ROUP. 

Roup is the bane of chicken raisers and chickens. The disease 
is characterized by a foul breath, offensive discharges, from the 
nostrils, inflamed and swollen head, cankerous-looking throat and 



94 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

mouth, a frothy substance in the inner corner of the eye; the 
lids' swell, and, in severe case, the eyeball is entirely concealed, 
and the fowl unable to see or feed, suffers from great depression 
and sinks rapidly, the feited smell being unbearable. This dis- 
ease attacks fowls especially when they are subjected to extremes 
of heat and cold, dampness, foulness, filthiness and neglect. When 
the first symptoms of roup appear the following remedies have 
been used by me and have proven beneficial. Young fowls having 
roup in its first stage should be given a one-grain quinine capsule 
three times a day. Get a small syringe and syringe each nostril 
and the slit in the top of the mouth with kerosene oil twice a day; 
then take half an ounce of sulphate of iron and one ounce of 
cayenne pepper in fine power, mix carefully a teaspoonful of 
these powders' with butter, and divide into ten parts; give one 
part once a day. If the disease is stubborn and the fowl, instead 
of improving continues to get worse, it is- useless to waste further 
time; it should be destroyed, for, even if cured of an aggravated 
case, the bird would not be fit to use as a breeder. When fully 
matured fowls or laying hens contract the roup, it can be cured 
in the first and second stage. The quinine should be increased to 
two grains three times- a day. The keresene oil should be used 
three times a day, and the last remedy should be given one part 
twice a day. Matured fowls' when treated as above, and with 
good care and attention after being cured, will be as useful to 
the breeder as before. In the last stage of roup the axe is the 
surest cure. Burn the dead birds at once and thoroughly fumigate 
all houses and disinfect all yards and runs with some good germi- 
cide. When the .symptoms of roup is noticed among fowls the 
sick bird should be isolated at once. 

SORE HEAD. 

Warts or bumps form on the head. In severe cases the eyes 
dose and their mouth closes up tight, which prevents them from 
eating, resulting in death. What causes' it no one knows. There 
•ire some whom claim it is the blood; in fact, every poultry 
breeder has his "theory. " When one or two birds are affected 
they should be isolated. When the disease gets a good hold on a 
flock of chickens it is almost a matter of impossibility to arrest 
its ravages. When taken in time the following remedies will 
prove beneficial: Bathe their heads, especially their mouth and 
- with warm water. Be sure to remove all dirt and scabs; then 
apply to the sore places a weak solution of kres?o or creoline, 
which can be procured at any druggist. They should be fed a 
mash of BO me kind, to which add a little pulverized charcoal and 




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For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 97 

sulphur. Feed once a day. Put a tablespoonful of Epsom salts 
in a gallon of water. Give them no other water to drink for a 
few days. "When a few fowls are affected it is not very hard to 
attend to them, but when a large flock has this disease it is a 
very hard matter. 

VERTIGO. 

Fowls affected with this disease may be observed to run round 
in a circle, slight convulsions, throwing of the head up and back 
or to one side, is evidently caused by undue determination of the 
blood to the head. Fat or over-fed fowls are mostly subject to it. 
Holding the head of the fowl under a stream of cold water. for a 
short time immediately arrests the disease; and a dose of any 
aperient, such as calomel, jalap, or castor oil, removes the tendency 
to the complaint. 

WORMS. 

Internal parasites. When any fowl is known by observation to 
be affected with worms it should be given santonine. Continue 
until good health is restored. Raw flesh is generally the cause of 
worms, but not always. 

SINGLE-COMB RHODE ISLAND REDS AND 
LIGHT BRAHMAS, . 

I have selected the above breeds simply for the reason that 
there is more money in them for me than many of the other 
breeds. After carefully selecting and breeding them for nearly 
four years, I find they will lay more eggs in a year than any 
fowl I have eve-r kept. For either eggs or meat it would be 
exceedingly hard to beat them. 

THEIR QUALITIES. 

They grow quickly, making fine broilers in from eight to ten 
weeks, and, as they have no dark pin feathers, make very desir- 
able dressed poultry. As a table fowl they cannot be surpassed. 
They are of delicious flavor, and under good conditions they will 
begin laying at from six to seven months old. As mothers and 
setters they cannot be excelled. They are gentle and easily 
yarded. They know not summer from winter, laying straight 
through, keeping your egg basket filled when eggs are high. 



98 The Weight "Way; or. Practical Hints 

THE ASIATIC EGG. 

When Uncle Isaac writes about the Brahma and Cochin, he 
handles something that no man in America knows as much about. 
He bred Brahmas, if not Cochins, longer than any man in these 
United States, if not in the world. He is a very old man, the 
father of the score card and one of the founders of the American 
Poultry Association. During the nearly sixty years he has bred 
poultry has held on to the Asiatic, notwithstanding, first and last, 
he has bred a majority of the varieties found in the standard a 
few years ago. He has always had the courage of his convictions, 
and one could always rely upon anything he would say or write. 
We clip the following article, which he wrote for the Feather: 

i ' The fact is that an Asiatic egg, from Brahmas or Cochins, 
has a greater influence to thicken a custard, so much so that live 
of their eggs will make an equal amount of custard of the same 
consistency as will seven Leghorn eggs. Drop a Leghorn egg or 
a white Wyandotte egg into hot water, then a Brahma or Cochin 
egg, and see which comes out in a solid round condition. You will 
then have the reason why most people prefer brown-shelled eggs 
over white ones. Their asserted preference for Brahma eggs has 
overshadowed all other brown-shelled eggs for the reason that 
five Brahma eggs will thicken as much custard as will seven Leg- 
horn eggs. The Khode Island Red, which lays a brown-shell egg, 
has a corresponding effect. One has only to drop into hot water 
Leghorns, Wyandottes or Hamburg eggs with the Brahma eggs 
to see none come out in that round compact form as does the 
Brahma. While the Rhode Island Reds approaches the Brahma, 
it is because of its (the Reds) ancestry to the Cochins. 

"It is useless to deny that Brahma eggs are no better than 
white-shell eggs when they can demand 10 cents more per dozen 
from special customers over eggs from any other breed. Those 
who are used to Brahma eggs desire no other, when Brahma eggs 
are to be had. 

"The nearest to a capon for excellence is a Brahma cockerel 
kept in celibacy from the time it is five months old until 10 months 
old. As long as ;i Brahma is growing its carcass is soft, juicy 
and tender, and I defy any epicure to distinguish it from a capon. 

"Wo have sold those cockerels at 10 months old, weighing 12 
pounds in March, that had boon kept all winter in celibacy and 
had them equally appreciated by patrons who buy capons, to tell 
us that no man can toll the difference in eating them. 

"The Brahma will make more pounds of poultry moat for the 
food it consumes than any other brood, and will remain tender to 
;i greater age than will any other breed. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 99 

"When it comes down for all purposes of poultry, eggs and 

, exhibition birds, the Brahma is the most valuable breed on earth. 

It lays more dollars' worth of eggs in a year owing to the fact 

that it lays seven-tenths of its yearly product in the live coldest 

months of the year, when eggs sell for the very highest price. M 

— FELCH, Southern Poultryman. 

PROPER CARE OF DUCKS. 

Any calculation as to the return to be expected by those who 
keep ducks depends entirely upon a suitable locality. Marshy 
places along a stream furnish many bettles and shell fish, and if 
the young ducks are allowed a run of a yard like that the cost 
of feeding them will be greatly reduced. In order to make them 
profitable, they will require more care than chickens, and the 
breeding is attended with more expense in a yard that is not 
supplied with running water, than where it has such a convenience. 

SUITABLE CLIMATE. 

In the South we can raise ducks every month in the year. They 
endure heat better than other fowls and cold never affects them. 
With great care, that requires long experience, we can grow from 
the hatch a broiler in six or eight weeks that will weigh one and 
a quarter to one and a half pounds. It takes a little more feed 
than it does for a chicken, but far less trouble. The feeding and 
management of ducks is almost directly opposite to the feeding 
and management of chickens. The humble accommodation of a 
mere shed offers quite good enough housing. The roof should be 
water-tight, and the ground of the shed pretty dry, to render it 
a good place for the sitters; as, if the nest be very damp, the eggs 
are apt to break, however quiet the sitter may be. 

FEEDING DUCKS. 

Ducks are very hardy and easy to feed; there is very little 
difference in the matter of feeding or in the composition of the 
ration. For the first five days bread crumbs, hard-boiled eggs 
chopped fine, and a little fine sand mixed with water or milk. 
Feed four times a day. From five to twenty days cornmeal, 
crushed oats, wheat bran, a little beef scraps and green food. 
From twenty to forty days cornmeal, wheat bran, boiled potatoes, 
a little beef scraps, fine sand and green food, mix with water to 

a crumbly state and feed four times a day. From forty to sixty 
days' old, wheat, coarse sand or grit should be added to the above> 

mix with water and feed four times a day. Ducks, old and young, 



100 The Wright Way; ok, Practical Hints 






should have a little litter for a bed — straw, hay or anything which 
is dry will do. The eggs do not keep as well as hen eggs, so they' 
should be set as fresh as possible. 

DUCK POINTERS. 

Four weeks is the period incubation. Ordinarily ducks will 
average from 180 to 200 eggs per year. No class of poultry will 
devour so much or feed so greedy as a duck. They do not scratch 
but will pick every bug out of a garden. Animal food is much 
better food for ducklings than vegetables. They have no disease, 
no roup, canker or sore head, scaly legs or wry tails. Ducklings 
must be sheltered from the rain and sun for the first four or five 
weeks. Ducks are by no means so pugnacious and jealous • of 
new-comers as common fowls uniformly are. They do not fly; a 

three-foot wire fence will keep them anywhere. To raise the best 
and most vigorous ducks the male should not be related to the 

females, and one should be kept for every two or three ducks. 
After hatching keep in their pens until the dews are off and 
during cold, stormy and heavy rains. Keep a shallow dish of fresh 
water near by them, which should be changed three times a day. 

RAISING TURKEYS. 

That the turkey has some singular peculiarities in its nature 
cannot well be denied. Among them may be mentioned its un- 
common tenderness when young, and its unqualified hardness when 
full grown. 

Nothing in the poultry yard is so tender, delicate and so easily 
destroyed when first hatched as a turkey. It is easily chilled, 
past recovery, by cold or storms, and yet, when full grown, it 
will endure some of the most severe and pelting storms of mid- 
winter. Tn the North they will roost high up in the trees during 
a fierce "northeaster" with the snow and ice collecting upon their 
heads, apparently unconcerned aflout shelter or protection. 

DIFFERENT VARIETIES. 

Tn a short article like this, it is impossible to give a description 
of the different varieties of turkeys. The variety that we breed 
is that which was found in this part of America, changed, perhaps, 
by domestication or crossing with the breeds farther South. The 
wild turkey found to-day in our swamps is just as it was origin- 
ally. The turkey thai is now bred in the South is much improved 
in color and in vigor by a cross on the wild turkey; the young 
are stronger and more easily raised. 




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For Poultry Profits ix the Back Yard. 103 

Young turkeys are the most helpless of all our poultry. On 
large farms no single branch in the poultry department offers 
greater possiDilities than turkey raising. They are great bug and 
insect exterminators, besides picking up a great deal of weed 
seed. All this is an advantage to the farmer, to say nothing of 
the good substantial returns that will come in about Thanksgiv- 
ing and Christmas times. They are some trouble, of course, 
especially when young. 

They are but very little trouble, however, after the first six 
weeks, or two months is past. During this time they need the 
proper care, but are little trouble as a rule. 

HATCHING TURKEYS. 

A larger percent of the eggs will hatch when from good, vigor- 
ous stock than with hen eggs. When 24 hours old, young turkeys 
should be removed to a good, roomy coop, with dry board floor. 
They should be kept in this for four or five days, when they can 
be let out in a pen made of 1x12 boards, about 12 feet long. The 
hen can be given her liberty if need be, as she will not leave her 
charge very far. 

The first feed should be good sharp grit, and nothing else. for 
12 hours. The following feed should consist of hard-boiled eggs, 
chopped fine with onion tops and lettuce leaves, peppered with 
black pepper and a very slight trace of salt. They are fed this 
way for about a week, one egg to 20 chicks. 

They can then be gradually switched off to boiled rice and stale 
bread soaked in milk, always lightly peppered with black pepper. 
When six to eight weeks old they should be fed on mixed grain 
and allowed the run of the fields, but always fed something at 
roosting time to induce them to come home while young. 

RAIN INJURIOUS. 

While young they should be kept out of the rain and heavy 
dew, as they cannot stand much wet at this age. The greatest 
enemies to young and growing poultry are the mites and lice. 
For these pests a good lice powder should be used, dusting the 
young when taken from the nest and once a week afterward until 
they are three or four months old. It should be well dusted into 
and under the wings, where the insects usually stick and hatch 
out. As they get older a very little lard rubbed under the wings 
and on top of the head will go a long way towards cleaning 
them out. 

If at any time during their growing age you have trouble, look 
for lice and mites under the wings and in the fluffy part of the 
body. They will cause you more trouble than anything else. 



104 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

A turkey roosting-house should be inclosed with wire netting on 
all sides, as a turkey must have freedom of air at all times. They 
can be kept in a house of this kind each morning while young 
until the dew is off. At other times until you are ready to let 
them out and feed. 

The roosting-house should be scraped out once a day by all 
means and sand or fine dust sprinkled over the ground after- 
wards. A little air-slacked lime is good about once a week. A 
turkey will stand less abuse than a chicken when confined to a 
house and yard; for that reason we urge upon all the importance 
of strict sanitary conditions. 

MARKET TIME. 

When fall eomes and killing times approaches, they can be 
materially increased in weight by feeding quite heavy of cracked 
corn once a day, with corn meal and wheat middling, half and 
half, the other meal; mixed with either sweet or sour milk to a 
stiff mash, and slightly salted and peppered. Turkeys so fed are 
elegant in flesh, both in texture and flavor, and will command the 
highest prices. 

The bronze is the leading turkey for market in this country, 
although there is no valid reason why the white Holland is not 
equally as good for the same purpose. Turkey eggs can be shipped 
a long distance and will hatch well if properly packed. 

TURKEY POINTERS. 

If there are two toms in the flock and they don't agree, shut 
one up one day and the other the next. 

The worst enemies of young turkeys, besides lice, are internal 
worms. 

The raising of turkeys should be one of the duties of our farm 
wives. 

It usually takes from 30 to 32 days for the eggs to hatch. 

The young, at the moment of their birth, give no sign of seek- 
ing their food. 

The mother never proves a good provider for them; she never 
scratches for her young like the hen. 

The turkey hen that ranges far from the barn is likely to steal 
her nest a long way from home. 

Make friends with your turkeys, so far as you can, and it will 
aid you considerable in caring for them. 

Be sure that the turkeys have enough, but not too much, food 
during breeding season; just enough to keep them in good flesh. 

The old turkey always proceeds leisurely with her flock, in- 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 105 

tuitively knowing when one is tired, and as speedily setting down 
to let it rest. 

Water should be placed in shallow dishes or old tin plates near 
the coop, so that the young can satisfy their thirst whenever 
inclined. 

GEESE-HOW TO MANAGE THEM. 

This is one branch of poultry culture rarely touched by me r 
simply because there are so few engaged in it that I thought it 
hardly worth while mentioning. 

Geese have never been bred in the South to any great extent. 

There are many reasons for this. 

For unlike the duck, which can be bred with or without access 
to water, the goose finds water absolutely essential to its existence. 

They are more easily raised than all other poultry, and then, 
being almost self-supporting, when brought to market are almost 
all profit. 

This is true only where one has a pond, a running, wooded 
brook or swamp land. 

If certain conditions are met geese require very little care. 

HATCHING THE EGGS. 

Hens are generally used to hatch the first geese eggs — that is, 
those that are set very early in the season — and for this purpose 
large hens, such as Brahmas or Langshans, are generally preferred. 

Five to seven eggs, according to the size of the hen, are enough. 

A goose is usually given 11 eggs for a setting, although a very 
large one might cover 13. 

The gander should be left with the geese during incubation. 

They will remain near the nest of their favorite and cour- 
ageously defend her from any intrusion. 

Children should not be allowed to approach them at such a 
time, as they are capable of inflicting serious injury. 

Eggs can be successfully hatched in incubators, but it is rarely 
practiced. 

The nests for hens sitting on goose eggs should be made in a 
shed or house where a reasonable mild and uniform temperature 
can be maintained. 

After the eggs have been incubated for about seven to ten 
days they can be tested and infertile ones taken out. 

The fertile ones can then be all placed under a part of the 
hens, if several have been set at one time, and fresh eggs placed 
under'^lhe others. 



106 The Weight Way; or, Practical Hints 

The shells and lining membrane of goose eggs are thicker and 
tougher than those of hen eggs, and care has to be exercised thai 
they do not become too dry. 

Sprinkling the ground will then help to keep the air of the 
place moist. 

Eggs under a goose seldom need attention, as more or less 
moisture is brought to the nest when the goose bathes, as she will 
at intervals, if allowed the opportunity. 

It is well to place food and water near the nest of the sitting 
goose at hatching time, so that she will be less likely to leave 
her nest before all the goslings are hatched. 

The fertile eggs usually hatch at the end of 28 or 30 days, but 
a longer time is occasionally required. 

Eggs have been hatched on the fortieth day of incubation. 

FEEDING GOSLINGS. 

If hatched before the grass starts in the spring, their care is 
rather a difficult matter. 

They require to be kept indoors and should be provided with 
some kind of green food, as chopped lettuce, onion tops or cabbage. 

As a rule, however, it is best to have the first goslings hatched 
about the time grass begins to grow in the spring and the weather 
becomes sufficiently mild to allow the young goslings to be put 
out of doors. 

When hatched they do not require feeding until they are 24 to 
36 hours old. 

The goose will take excellent care of .her young brood and need 
not be disturbed until time to feed them. 

Some chicken hens, however, become restless on the nest and 
are liable to kill the young goslings by treading on them. 

In such cases it is well to give the goslings to a more quiet hen, 
or perhaps remove them to a lined box or basket by the kitchen 
fire, where they can remain during the day, to be returned to 
the hen at night. 

A good food for young goslings is scalded, finely-cracked corn, 
with a little bran mixed with it. It should not be wet and sticky, 
but just enough water should be added to make the dough have 
a crumbly consistency. 

At the end of 24 to 36 hours they may be removed from the 
and fed. 

Water should be provided in a shallow dish, in which a few 
pebbles have been placed, or soine other provision made to pre- 
vent the young goslings from getting into the water and getting 
the soft down with which they are covered wet, thereby becom- 
ing chilled. ' 






For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 107 

Sharp sand, saturated with water, should be provided in another 
shallow dish, where, they can help themselves at any time. 

While small they should be fed four or five times a day, and 
when ten days old a little food may be put into the building 
where they are shut up at night. 

Grass is the natural food of goslings, and where the supply is 
abundant less grain food is required. 

SHOULD BE PROTECTED. 

After the goslings are ten days old the goose and her flock can 
be allowed to roam at will in a pasture with short grass, although 
it is better that the goslings do not have an opportunity to swim, 
as they are liable to become chilled by the cold water. 

They should be protected from storms or from sudden showers. 

Goslings, while small, are covered with down, which seems to 
have little power to shed water, aucl soon become wet. The 
goslings become chilled and soon die unless thoroughly dried and 
warmed. 

They should also be confined at night. 

The box or building in which they are confined should be pro- 
vided with a sufficient supply of cut straw or hay to cover the 
floor, and it should be frequently changed. 

As the weather becomes warm they can be allowed free access 
to water, in which they can swim if they choose. 

As soon as the quill feathers have developed upon their backs 
the goslings will be out of danger from injury through getting 
wet in showers or storms. 

The important points in the successful rearing of goslings are: 
Xot to overcrowd when penned together; to protect from severe 
storms or showers; from the excessive heat of the sun by day and 
from damp floors by night. 

HOW TO TELL SEX IN GEESE. 

It is not an easy thing to tell the sex in geese. 

When they are six or seven months old one can usually tell by 
observation the goose from the gander. 

The male, in most cases, grows larger than the female. 

The female has a deeper body, slimmer neck and smaller head. 

The call of the gander is long, loud and shrill, while that of 
the goose is merely an answer to it. 

It is a good plan to divide the flock, part on one side of the 
fence and part on the other, when trying to distinguish the sex, 
when you can distinguish most of the ganders by their calls. 

Xever look for a curled feather in their tails, or other outside 
marks, for there are none. 



108 The Weight Way; or, Practical Hints 

The male is bolder and vicious, and if cornered in some small 
place will show fight to protect his mate. 

If you have a large flock it would be well to look them up this 
spring and make sure that you have plenty of geese and not too 
many ganders before the laying season. 

THE GUINEA FOWL. 

The guinea hen has the credit of being a good layer, but her 
eggs are not in much demand commercially, owing to the wild, 
gamey flavor they possess. However, there is a profit in turning 
their eggs into broilers or roasting fowls, for which there is a 
ready sale. 

The guinea is a great roamer, and does not thrive in confine- 
ment. The laying season begins in April and continues until 
October, during which time hens have been known to lay as many 
as ten dozen eggs. It is advisable not to set the hen before June. 
It requires four weeks for the hen to hatch the eggs. 

The hen hides her nest in some obscure place, which can bq 
detected by the shrill cry of the hen as she leaves the nest. 
Generally all the hens of the flock lay in the same place. 

A peculiar thing in the nature of the guinea is that she at once 
knows if human hands have removed any of her eggs, and upon 
such discovery she will quickly abandon the spot and seek another. 
The proper way is to remove the eggs by means of a stick, rolling 
them out of the nest before picking them up. Even if the eggs 
are taken out nearly every day in this way she will not detect 
anything wrong. 

There are two varieties of guineas — the pearl and the white. 
The latter is of a less wild nature, and more apt to remain about 
home. It is said that a cross between the pearl and the white 
varieties produces a carcass that very closely resembles that of 
the English grouse. Rightly cooked the meat of even an old bird 
will be tender and delicious, while that of the young bird • is 
unsurpassed. 

When dressed the guinea presents a round, plump body, good- 
sized breast and small bones. 

If sexes are equal guineas pair. Their laying hours generally 
are between 10 o'clock in the morning and 2 o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

The young are delicate until well feathered. The cock bird 
cares for the young the same as does the hen, guarding them by 
day and hovering them by night. 

In size the male is somewhat larger than the female, more 
aggressive, and has a different call, sounding something like 




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"Tick! Tick!" while that of the female is more like "Come 
back! Come back!" 

Guineas can be safely allowed in the garden, as they do not 
scratch like other fowls and are great insect destroyers. 

PIGEON BREEDING. 

The breeding of pigeons, like the breeding of any other form 
of lower life, must be accompanied by care, attention, thoughtful 
consideration and intelligence. Squabs are bred profitable in con- 
nection with poultry or as a separate specialty. In squab raising 
there are few losses to figure. The birds are strong and rugged, 
and thrive in any part of the United States or Canada, in any 
climate and at all seasons. Squabs are young pigeons. In the 
market you will find not the squabs of the common kind of pigeons 
which you see flying about in the city and country (although the 
ease with which these pick up a living under adverse circum- 
stances, is a good illustration of their hardy qualities), but the 
squabs of the Homer and other fine pigeons that produce fastest, 
the best young for the table and are used almost invariably by 
the intelligent and successful squab breeders. Common pigeons 
are cheap and easily found, but the Homer, Carneaux, Maltese, 
etc., are worth from $2 to $3 a pair because the squabs they pro- 
duce are marketable, while the squabs of common pigeons are 
small and skinny, and worth as squabs only about $1 or $1.50 a 
dozen. It is important for the beginner to get this distinction 
firmly fixed in mind. 

MATING AND BREEDING. 

In breeding squabs for the market, you do not allow the parent 
birds to fly at random over the neighborhood, but keep them con- 
fined by wire netting in a fly pen. This is attached to the squab 
house. In starting a flock, one male to every female pigeon is 
needed. You cannot have one male for several females. In the 
squab house are two nest for each pair of birds, and the nest are 
arranged in boxes about a foot square. In each box is set a nest 
hole for the nest to be built in. The breeding pairs build their own 
nest with hay, straw, pine needles, twigs, etc. which is placed in 
a pile in the squab house. As soon as the nest is built the male 
bird begins to "drive" the female — he is anxious that she deposits 
the eggs. You will see him hustling her about all over the squab 
house and the flying pen, and he is contented only when she is 
perched on the nest. She lays two eggs, then she and the male 
take turns sitting. She sits on the eggs at night until about 10 
o'clock in the morning, then he comes and sits on them until 
evening, when she returns and he goes away for a rest. 



112 The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 

FEEDING. 

The young break out of the shell in seventeen days after the 
eggs are laid. You do not feed the squabs at all; the old birds 
attend to that. The old birds fill their crop with food, and then 
fly to the nest and fill the bills of the little ones from their crops; 
in three to four weeks they fill the nest so there is no room for the 
breeding pigeons, which begin setting and laying eggs again in the 
other nest box of the pair. The feed for pigeons consists of wheat, 
cracked corn, kafiir corn, Canada peas, hempseed, millet, barley 
and buckwheat may be fed (if in localities where these grains are 
easily obtainable), grit, oyster shells and salt, all cheap and 
easily obtained. No other food is given, and there is no mechani- 
cal preparation of the food. Each locality has its own grains 
readily adaptable to pigeons. Bread crumbs may be' fed. On the 
ground at the end of the flying pen should be placed a pan of 
water, renewed every day. At sunrise each day the pigeons go 
there and take a bath. They do not roll in the dirt — simply splash 
in the water, which keeps their plumage clean and in order. In 
pigeon breeding there is no need of new blood every year. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 113 
POULTRY POINTERS. 

The man or woman who has no patience and willingness to work, 
and expects everything to be smooth sailing, will make a failure 
out of the poultry business. 



The man or woman who has patience and willingness to work, 
and don't expect everything to be smooth sailing, will make a 
success out of the poultry business. 



It is hopeless to expect to achieve success in poultry work unless 
the poultry keeper knows his fowls; this means study, observation 
and thought, together with insight. 



If you are beginning to raise poultry, and have a little bad luck 
in the start, never feel discouraged; remember that "grit" is as 
good for man or woman as it is for a fowl. - 



If you contemplate purchasing and are not thoroughly familiar 
with the breed you want, it is better to pay a little more and buy 
guaranteed stock from a reputable breeder. 

Cleanliness is the most important factor in the successful raising 
of poultry, and it doesn't consist altogether in the removal of 
dirt. It includes also plenty of fresh air. 



The poultryman 's„ capital is alive. A flock of hens will produce 
eggs for three or more seasons, and then you can sell them for all 
they cost in the food market of any town. 



Plenty of feed, fresh water, and clean, dry yards are the three 
things necessary in raising broilers, and these Can be supplied on 
almost any city lot. 



If the hens have a tendency to become fat and lazy make the 
litter deeper so they will be obliged to work hard. It is careless 
practice to feed your flocks twice as much as they can eat. 



The only way you can succeed in the poultry business is by 
treating your customers right and make every order bring others. 
Let this be your slogan. 



114 



The Wright Way; or, Practical Hints 



One of the most important points to be observed in setting eggs 
for hatching is to correctly proportion the number. Their size 
and the size of the hen should be considered. 



Heavily fed pullets should be kept busy to keep them in good 
order and to prevent their becoming too fat before starting to lay. 
After laying is established they will not become too fat to hurt 
them. 



Broodiness is nature's signal that the hen needs rest and recu- 
peration. Therefore, let the hen hatch and rear a brood of chicks. 
Do not try to get ahead of nature. 



When buying eggs for hatching, be sure that they are from 
strong, healthy, vigorous stock, otherwise the results will be a lot 
of stragglers, without a spark of chicken-vim in them. 



Do not attempt to compound formulas with the idea of forcing 
your hens to lay. Good laying strains are produced through care- 
ful breeding and not by some chemical process. 



So many make a failure of the poultry business because they 
start on too large a scale and, not knowing anything about the 
business, they are sure to fail. The best way to start is slow 
but sure. 



Table scraps are the very best egg food that can be found, and 
one ordinary family wastes enough such things to keep one male 
and eight hens, which can be happy in a yard 10 by 25 feet. 



Those of you who are inclined to sleep late in the morning and 
think chickens take care of themselves, take my advice. Keep 
out of the poultry business. 



You cannot "make a living'' from the day you step into a farm 
and begin poultry work. There will probably be some return from 
the first day if you go to work right. Between a start of that 
kind, however, and a living, there is a long journey. 



For Poultry Profits in the Back Yard. 115 

A TEW OF THE MANY REASONS WHY 
I SUCCEED. 

First — Because I love my birds and the poultry business. 

Second — I use' common sense. I am following rny own system. 

Third — Because I am willing to work, and I give my birds every 
care and attention that is required in my business. 

Fourth — Because I advertise summer and winter, and by doing 
so I keep before the poultry public. This is essential. 

Fifth — Because I use a very good quality of stationery. I 
answer all inquiries as promptly as possible. This is of great 
importance. 

Sixth — Because I give my customers full value in return for 
their money, and I am always ready to make amends, especially 
when the fault is mine. 

Seventh — Because I entertain my visitors, and I am always will- 
ing to answer any question about chickens that I can, and find it 
a pleasure to do so. 

Eighth — Because I give my chickens the best of all foods. 
Charcoal, grit and cracked oyster shell is kept before them all the 
time. Fresh running water always. 

Ninth — Because I keep them as free from lice as I possibly can. 
I whitewash the houses and keep their surroundings sweet and 
clean, and I am not afraid to use lice powder. 

Last, but not least, I get up every morning just as the birds 
leave their roost, and by eight o'clock my yards are fresh and 
clean and in first-class sanitary condition. 

In my judgment all women can qualify to the above. Now, my 
sisters, get a hustle on and prove to the Adams that we EVes can 
raise poultry as successfully as they can. Do as I am doing and 
earn independent money. 



INDEX. 

Preface 4 

Foreword 1 5 

Sunshine Is Like Medicine for Chicks 3 

The Song of Success 6 

Summer 7 

The Red Chicken 8 

Little Red Hen » 9 

Symptoms > 10 

Poultry Interest in the South 11 

Great Advantages 11 

Good Demand 11 

The Love of Live Things 12 

Think and Study 12 

Weed-Grown Back Lot (Illustration) 13 

Beginners Expect Too Much 15 

Ups and Downs in the Poultry Business , . . 15 

Different Branches 17 

Fancy Breeding- . 17 

Egg Production 17 

Broilers and Friers „• • • • 18 

Different Classes 18 

Best Breed 18 

Rhode Island Breeding Pens (Illustration) 19 

.Hating 21 

Location 21 

Preparation of Ground 22 

Housing 23 

Material t 23 

Dimensions of Houses 23 

Roosts 24 

S. C. R. I. Cock 25 

Pens and Runways 27 

Awnings for Shading Fowls 28 

Tahle of Cost 28 

S. C. R. I. Hen 29 

Brooding Constructions 31 

Hoover 31 

Fertile Eggs • I- • 31 

Care of Eggs 32 

Running an Incubator 32 

The Lamp / 33 

How to Place Eggs ...... 33 

Barren Eggs 34 

Turning the Eggs 34 



II 



INDEX. 



Hatching With Hens 34 

S. C. R. I. Cockerel (Illustration) 35 

Selection of Eg-gs , 37 

Gejntle Hens Important 37 

The Nest , 37 

Eg-g- Advice 38 

To Discourage a Broody Hen . .' 38 

Raising and Brooding- Chicks 38 

Preparing for Chicks 38 

One of My Red Pullets (Illustration) 39 

Feeding- Young Chicks 41 

Changes Which an Egg Undergoes in Hatching 42 

Different Changes 42 

First Voluntary Motion 42 

Promising Young Red Pullet (Illustration) 43 

The Seventh Day ■ 45 

Eyes Appear 45 

A itality That Eggs Contain 46 

Foundation Stock 50 

Light Brahma Pens (Illustration) 47 

On e Variety More Profitable Than Many 53 

Another View of Light Brahma Breeding Pens (Illustration).. 51 

Single Variety 54 

A Decided Advantage 54 

A Simple Illustration » 54 

Feeding Growing Pullets .* 55 

Diseases Prevented 55 

Early Maturity 55 

Food Supply 56 

Charcoal and Grit ;. 56 

Two Pens of Reds and Two of Brnlunas (Illustration) 57 

Care of Breeding Stock 59 

Proper Food and Feeding 59 

Green Food 59 

Wet Mash 60 

One Reason for Weak Chickens 60 

Line Breeding 62 

Some Reasons for Failures 63 

I^ack of System 64 

The Practical Man 64 

Buyer and Seller 65 

Polite to Customers , 65 

Full Value 65 

1 11 Tortile Fs'K'S ,«...... 66 

Do Not Misrepresent 66 

No PTOm in (heap Poultry , 66 

IJjrbt Brahma Cook Bird (Illustration) 67 

Fitting Birds for the Show Boom 69 

What In Utility ( hiekens 70 

Frequently (lives Splendid Results ^ 71 



INDEX. Ill 

Accidents in the Poultry Yard 71 

Molting 7J 

One of Mv Hrahnia Hens ( Illustration) 73 

Common Chicken Mite 7C 

Keep Insects in Check 76 

Anatomy of the Egg 7 7 

The Rudimental Egg t 77 

A 11) union of the E^ 7 7 

Progress of the Formation 7^ 

The Eg-g- Has Six Different Envelopes 78 

The Air Bag- 7^ 

Double-Yolked Eggs 70 

Shell of the Egg* 79 

White of the Egg 70 

Yolk of the Egg SO 

Weight of Eggs SO 

Required Time for Eggs to Hatch . . : so 

Causes and Effects. 80 

My Own Method 81 

The Value of Sprouted Oats as Green Food S2 

Light Brahma Cockerel (Illustration) S3 

Poultry Manure Worth Saving; 85 

Keep Poultry Record 86 

One of My Light Brahma Pullets (Illustration) ^7 

Egg Tests S9 

Diseases of Poultry 89 

Apoplexy S9 

Black Rot 90 

Break Down 90 

Bumble Foot 90 

Canker 90 

Chicken Pox . 90 

Cholera 91 

Consumption 91 

Crop Bound 91 

Diarrhoea. . 91 

Egg-Bound 92 

Egg- Eating 92 

Feather Eating 92 

Gaps. . . 92 

Leg Weakness 9.1 

Lice ! 93 

Pip. . 93 

Tloup 93 

Sore Head • • 94 

Incubating Room (Illustration) 9." 

Vertigo 97 

Worms • 97 

Single Comb Rhode Island Reds and Brahmas 97 

Their Qualities v < , « ■ • • • 9/7 



IV INDEX. 

The Asiatic Egg 98 

Proper Care of Ducks 99 

Suitable Climate 99 

Feeding- Ducks 99 

Duck Pointers 100 

Raising; Turkeys 100 

Different Varieties 100 

Brooder House (Illustration) 101 

Hatching- Turkeys 103 

Rain Injurious 103 

Market Time 104 

Turkey Pointers 104 

Geese — How to Manage Them 105 

Hatching the Eggs 105 

Feeding Goslings 106 

Should Be Protected 107 

How to Tell Sex in Geese 107 

The Guinea Fowl 108 

Sanitarium (Illustration) 109 

Pig-eon Breeding Ill 

Mating and Breeding Ill 

Feeding. . . 112 

Poultry Pointers I 13 

A Few Reasons Why I Succeed 11") 

















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